Be Be Your Love
by leogalsis
Summary: While moving into her new house, Jess discovers a box in her closet. As she learns about the story behind the box, she ends up being part of the ending. Will she be able to bring two people together or mess it up completely?
1. The Box

a/n: I know this chapter is short but it's only the first one, the others will be longer. Hope you like the story.

disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 1: The Box

Jess watched from her sister's window, seeing her quickly running outside with an umbrella, ushering a lady who was about twenty-seven into their house. They were expecting this stranger, well she wasn't a complete stranger, her sister Lacy did know who this was. Apparently, this stranger was three years older than Lacy and they both attended the same high school at one time. Not only that, but this woman was the daughter of the people her sister bought this house from. They didn't know that when they bought the house or even on moving day, which was two days ago.

Actually, Jess stumbled upon the reason to why this woman was here, she was unpacking yesterday, hanging her clothes in her closet when she noticed a box on the shelf, pushed in the back corner, which made it easy to be missed. Using her desk chair, she was able to pull it out. She called her sister, knowing that Lacy would kill her if she didn't bring her along on this adventure.

"What do you think it is?" Lacy asked, brushing her hand lightly on it, as if afraid that if she pressed to hard, something bad would happen.

Jess stared at her, it sometimes amazed her that Lacy actually made it through university. "A box," she said slowly.

"I know what it is but I wonder who this box belonged to, why they made it, what secrets lay within it. I mean who knows, this box could have belonged to the first person who owned this house," Lacy replied. Jess rolled her eyes and opened the box, knowing that her sister was dying with suspense.

Lacy's eyes immediately brightened when the box was opened, claiming that she knew who the owner of this box was. Jess was confused at how her sister knew who owned the box. There was no name in it, just a heart-shaped necklace saying 'Be Be Your Love' and a letter addressed to no one and there was no name at the bottom, as if the top and bottom of the page were ripped out. How could her sister know who owned a heart-shaped necklace with the words imprinted wrong and a letter addressed to no one?

Jess tried to read the letter but Lacy quickly snatched it away, claiming that it was too deep of a subject to read without the person who wrote the letter not knowing. Jess questioned Lacy, wanting to know the story behind the box but Lacy shook her head, claiming that she only knew the side of the rumours, not sure what was the truth and what wasn't.

"Maybe she will tell us," Lacy said

"Who's she?" Jess asked.

"The owner of the box silly," Lacy answered, telling her that she would contact her right away, claiming that her name will never leave her, although she failed to tell Jess the name.

Jess snapped out of her thoughts when she heard someone walking up the creaky stairs. She went to the door, slightly opening it and watched the stranger, the owner of the box walk pass Lacy's room and into her own. Lacy told her not to read the letter and to make sure Jess followed the instruction, Lacy kicked her out of her own room, locking the door, telling her that she could go back in once the owner of the box left. Jess watched the owner of the box turn the handle slowly, opening the door.

She slowly walked inside, as if she was trying to capture and remember every square inch of that room. She then noticed the box, it was placed in the middle of the floor since the only furniture in that room was Jess's desk chair, the rest of the furniture still had to be assembled. The owner of the box sat down slowly on the carpet, staring at the unopened box. She touched it carefully, as if afraid that it would blow up or disappear any second. She opened the box, lifting the lid, and looking inside. Jess saw her smile a sad smile as she pulled out the necklace and letter.

"You can come in," the owner of the box said, turning her head towards the door, knowing the whole time that Jess was watching her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to spy," Jess said, slightly stepping into the room. The owner placed the necklace and letter back into the box, while never losing eye contact with Jess, waiting for her excuse to why she was spying. "It's just…" Jess started, not sure how to word it. "It's just that I found that box and I'm curious at what it all means, the necklace with a word accidently imprinted twice, and a letter, with no name addressed or signed. What does it mean?" Jess asked.

The owner of the box smiled. "Your sister asked that too, you should know, everything is not what it seems. I'll answer all your questions if you answer one for me." Jess nodded, wanting desperately to know the answer. "Your parents, were they the ones that died in that horrible house fire not that long ago?" she asked.

Jess felt a bit defensive, everyone wanted to know if it was her parents and what exactly happened. "How sad," people would say, pitying them. This was why her sister bought a house with her parents' savings and quickly moved out of their old house, pulling Jess along. Although she felt this way, why people were trying to butt into her personal life, she thought this was exactly what she was doing to the owner of the box and her emotions quickly disappeared before she answered.

"Yes," Jess whispered and the owner of the box nodded.

"I'm sorry," she replied and Jess nodded back as Lacy came into the room, carrying a tray with two mugs containing coffee in them.

"Here Casey, I hope you like coffee black, we've seem to run out of milk and sugar, sorry," Lacy said. "Oh," she said once she saw Jess. "You haven't been bothering Ms. Macdonald Jess, have you?" Lacy asked.

"No she hasn't, I was just going to start the story, explaining the box and everything in it," Casey interfered. "I'm sure you are both dying to know," she said as she grabbed the coffee, trying to think where she should begin.

Reviews are always welcome


	2. The Bet

disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 2: The Bet

Casey paused, looking at the two girls in front of her who were, waiting for her to continue.

"Well, what's the story?" Jess pushed on before she was smacked by Lacy, telling her to let Casey take her time.

"Well before I begin, I can explain the two items in the box a bit. The person who engraved the necklace didn't make a mistake. 'Be Be Your Love' is a love song, my favourite when I was eighteen, about your age right? How old are you?" Casey said to Jess.

"I'm sixteen, will be seventeen in a month," Jess replied and Casey smiled and nodded.

"That was a great age, I miss being a teenager," Casey said. After a slight pause, she continued. "Anyways, I've explained the necklace but not the letter. See, I wrote this letter when I was angry with him, but also very depressed. I wasn't sure if I ever wanted him to read it, that's why I was very careful with the names sticking to the 'I's' and 'you's,' never really addressing it to him, so if he ever found it, I could deny it, claiming that it wasn't for him," Casey explained as well as she could.

"But how would he, this man you keep talking about, ever find the box with the letter if it was shoved in the back of your closet?" Jess asked, she looked over at her sister, seeing Lacy look like she knew the answer. She felt like an outsider, not knowing anything about this story.

Casey smiled, but her smile was never happy. "I could answer that question right now but I won't, it will be easier to tell the story. Now how does that saying go? Oh yes, I will start with once upon a time because it seems so long ago, and like every story that starts with this saying, it feels like it couldn't be real. It was our senior year, in the middle of May. The school year was ending and university was creeping up…"

Casey stormed into the house, slamming the front door behind her, screaming Derek's name. She knew he was home, for one thing, his hockey bag was on the floor, once again making it harder to walk and also Sam was on the couch, munching on a bag of chips. He didn't bother to ask Casey why she was shouting for Derek, he knew the answer and knew it was only a matter of time before Casey found Derek and yelled at him. He just wished he wasn't there when Casey did it, which he unfortunately would be.

"What?" Derek asked coming out of the kitchen, acting as if he was annoyed, although Sam wasn't sure if it was an act. Derek stopped in front of Casey because she was blocking his path to his chair.

"You know perfectly well what," Casey sneered, lowing her voice a little, trying to get self-control.

"Case, I'm not a mind reader," he said, having a smirk grow on his lips.

Casey returned the smiled but Sam could tell that she was just using it to hold back. "Let me spell it out for you. Today you made an announcement on the PA system in which you said, 'listen ladies, Max dumped Casey so get him while he's hot," Casey recited. She was so horrified when she heard it that she wanted to get every exact word right so that she could kill him.

"Ah yes, that was great," Derek said, still smiling, never losing his cool.

"It wasn't great!" Casey screeched. "And it was inaccurate, Max and I broke up mutually, no one dumped the other!" Casey shouted to him. Which was true. They had an on and off relationship since they were in grade 10 but this time, Casey broke it off for good. She was tired of the drama and Max agreed, having feelings for another girl.

"Hey, I had to protect a friend's reputation," Derek said.

"Friend? You and Max wouldn't even be friends if I didn't date him."

"That's just a small detail, I mean, I'll never remember that, like Sam and I don't remember how we became friends."

"Actually, I do. I took one of your yellow crayons in pre-school to colour in my sun then you threw a shoe at my head. We have been friends ever since," Sam stated. Casey and Derek turned to look at Sam, both glaring at him because he butted into their bickering match. "Sorry, I'll be quiet," Sam muttered before going back to watching the t.v.

"Even if I remember how Max and I became friends, that still doesn't matter. What matters is that finally Max got tired of your whining and dumped you."

"It was mutual! And I do not whine that much. Sam tell him that I don't whine that much," Casey said.

Sam kept his eyes on the t.v. screen. "No comment, I'm not getting in the middle of this."

"See," Derek said, laughing a little, "you whine all the time that I bet you can't go a week without complaining."

"I can to!" Casey said. "And when I do, I want all privileges of the car for two months. I get first choice, to use it whenever I want without asking you."

"Fine but when you lose, I get the car for two months," Derek replied.

"Deal!" Casey said as they shook hands. They were so engrossed by the heat of the moment that Sam wasn't sure if they even realized what they just agreed to.

"Better kiss your car goodbye because it's mine on Friday for the next two months," Casey said which made Sam realized that they did know what they said, which made him wonder why he was friends with these people.

Casey started to walk up the stairs but tripped over Derek's hockey bag. "DER…" she stated to shout but stopped herself. "Derek could you please move your bag before someone gets hurt," Casey said calmly.

"Uh, no," Derek replied, sitting in his chair.

"Fine," Casey said sweetly. She then picked up the bag and walked outside, planning to throw it on the lawn.

Derek quickly got up, never losing his cool and locked the door behind her. He walked back to his chair and looked at the t.v., keeping one ear listening for Casey's scream. He expected Casey to bang on the door, whining to be let in. Derek would let her in when she agreed to carry his bag inside, hitting two birds with one stone. Instead, he heard the door open. Derek glanced at the door, seeing Casey holding a key.

"Hey loser, next time you try locking someone out, make sure they don't know where the hiding key is," Casey said, shutting the door and walking up the stairs. "Better go get your bag before Anna Brown's dog munches on it," Casey called after him.

Derek waited until Casey disappeared from his view before he got up from the chair and ran outside, mumbling swear words under his breath. Sam started to laugh, shaking his head at his friend.

---

Casey tried to avoid Derek the rest of Friday and all of Saturday. She managed to accomplish that by staying in her room. She began to believe Derek when on Saturday, she had to hold her tongue many times so that she wouldn't complain. She planned to change though, she wrote up different things that Derek would try to do to get her to complain and, with the help of Lizzie, she practiced them.

"Okay, Derek comes in and drinks out of the carton," Lizzie read from the card. She, Casey, and Edwin were in the kitchen, having Edwin be Derek, but of course pretended to drink from the carton not actually do it. The only reason why they weren't in Casey's room was because every Sunday morning, Derek had hockey practice.

"Derek, I know that you have grown accustom these past eighteen years to only think about yourself when you are thirsty but please use a glass next time because some people's immune system are not as strong as others. Take Marti for example, who is only nine and has not gotten all her shots," Casey said calmly, only looking at her card once.

"That's good Casey, you almost have it memorized," Lizzie said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Come on, who practices these things?

"Ya, Casey that was good," Edwin piped in, trying to not crush her spirits.

"Ya, Casey that was good," a mocking voice said as it came into the kitchen. Casey turned and saw Derek stroll in, smiling, thinking that his joke is so clever.

"Aren't you supposed to be at hockey practice?" Casey asked, gathering her cards before Derek touched them. Unfortunately, she wasn't quick enough.

"Ya, it ended early," Derek said, picking up one of the cards.

"'This is for when Derek gets demanding,'" Derek started to read aloud, "'for example: Casey make me a sandwich. Reply: Derek, if I make you a sandwich how will you ever learn to do things for yourself, especially when you move out. Not wanting you to end up being a bum on the street, I will deny your request.'" Once Derek finished reading, he burst out laughing. "What are these?" he asked.

"Their practice cards," Lizzie said without thinking. Casey gave her a look and she quickly left with Edwin behind her, leaving Casey alone with Derek. Casey took a deep breath, preparing herself for being insulted.

"You know, I thought you couldn't be more of a loser than you already are but then here you are, proving me wrong," Derek said as Casey snatched the card from his hand.

"Whatever," Casey replied, getting off the stool and walking away from Derek.

"What? No comeback? Here let me give you another one," Derek said running after her. He cut right in front of her, stopping her from making her way to the stairs. She looked up at him, waiting for him to say something, biting her lip to not complain. "I think dancing sucks. I think it is pointless and stupid, I think it's easy and anyone can do it," he said smirking. He knew that she would yell at him, telling him that it's not just in the steps but you dance with your heart, blah, blah, blah.

Casey didn't take the bate though. She remained calm, taking a deep breath. "Well that is your opinion and I should respect that." She then walked around him, making her way up the stairs but she stopped in the middle of them. "Oh and Derek, you should respect me too by not saying such mean and cruel things but then again, that's all you know," she said. She continued her way up the stairs, smiling that she was able to insult him without whining.

Derek stared up at the stairs where Casey was only seconds before. "She can't win this," he said, starting to doubt himself for thinking that this was a shoe in.

"Yup, I can win this," Casey whispered to herself before she made it to her room. She was very proud of herself by not losing her cool. She almost did lose it when he said anyone could dance. It always bothered her when people said that, why should dance be degraded? It was just as hard as sports, maybe even harder. She shook her head, telling herself not to think about it anymore. "Only a couple more days, then I get to scream at him," she promised herself.

Reviews are always welcome!


	3. Dana

a/n: sorry it took so long, school really sucks.

disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 3: Dana

Casey went to school the next day angry at Derek. That morning he dumped her bag on the floor, causing everything to spill out, then drank the orange juice from the container and stole her lunch. She assumed that he also stole her cards because those three scenarios were on her cards. Casey was proud though that she managed to keep her cool, not complaining about anything.

She met Emily at her locker, afraid to say anything that may sound like she was complaining. She told Emily about the bet though, and Emily, being a great friend, promised she would help her not complain because they never knew when Derek was around. By third period though, she managed to get the hang of it.

She managed to get it so good that Derek, who was lurking at every corner started to really wonder if Casey could win. He was only worried a little though so he wasn't too distraught and he knew gym class would cheer him up.

"Now class, dancing is part of the curriculum here for the gym course," their teacher, Mr. Cane said, starting the class.

"Oh, come on sir, are you really going to teach us dance?" One of the boys shouted.

"No I'm not," he said, "my sister Ms. Cane will," he replied just as a young blonde, skinny, tall woman walked into the room, causing all of the students, who were all boys, to drop their jaws.

"Man she's hot," one of his classmates whispered to Derek.

"Oh please, call me Dana," the woman said, "that's what all the guys call me," she continued, winking at Mr. Cane, in which he gave her a disapproving look.

To that, she rolled her eyes and looked to the class full of hormonal teenage boys. "Alright," she started, dropping her bag on the floor and walking closer to the boys. "What's the first thing that every dancer needs?" Dana asked looking at the boys. Derek raised his hand, having a smirk still on his face. "Yes," Dana said, pointing to Derek.

"If it's good looks than you have it 150 percent," Derek said looking at her, up and down as other boys whistled. Mr Cane quickly shouted at them to shut up but Dana just kept smiling and kept eye contact with Derek.

"If only hot people could dance," she started to say while walking closer to Derek. She stood right in front of him, looking directly in his eyes without moving her head, since she was the same height as him. "Then there wouldn't be a chance in hell that you could dance," she finished as Derek's classmates all yelled 'burn' and Derek's smirk faded, not having a good comeback.

"Alright, back to my question, the first thing that a dancer needs is balance, but do not just find balance in your eyes but in the center of your body." She then placed her hand on her body just below her ribs. "This is where your center is. Find it and train it to maintain your balance. Now let's go to the barre," she instructed, pointing to the portable barres.

Every student went over, not saying anything, afraid that if they made a comment, they would be insulted like Derek was. Derek though assured the ones around him that by the time their dance unit for gym was done, he would have tapped Dana.

It turned out that since Dana was so incredibly hot that it brought out all of the stupidity in the boys. Whatever Dana told them to do, most of them would do the opposite, knowing that she would correct them, placing her hands on them. The biggest one was she told them not to stick out their butts, keep their pelvic in. If they stuck out their butts she would place one hand just above their tailbone and the other just below the belly button to fix it.

Although they knew what they were doing wrong and could fix it themselves, they chose not to. Well that was until she got angry. She was tired of fixing all of them and she stomped over to one of the corners of the gym. She then rubbed her left foot on the corner of the floor and stomped back to the class. Duncan who had stuck his butt out in hopes that Dana would fix it for him did not see this coming. Dana walked over to him and kicked him in the butt with her left foot and since there was dust on her foot, having rubbed it on the floor, dust was now on Duncan's butt in the shape of a footprint.

"Don't touch it," she instructed him when he tried to rub it off. "It will remind you to not stick out your butt and hopefully remind everyone else, and if anyone needs a personal reminder too, I see plenty more dust on this floor," she said.

Then the bell rang, signalling the end of the school day. All of the students took their things and left but Derek stayed behind. He waited for Mr. Cane to leave, knowing that he had to run and coach the badminton team.

"So," Derek started, Dana didn't look up, she continued to take off her ballet shoes and put on her running shoes. "That was a great class," he continued, putting on his trademark smirk. Dana looked up, knowing exactly where Derek was going with this.

"The answer is no," she said, standing up.

"I didn't ask a question," Derek said.

"Yes, but you were going to say a lame pick up line then ask me out and the answer is no."

"Why?" Derek questioned. "It's not like there is a huge age difference, you're like what? Nineteen?" he guessed.

"Twenty," Dana corrected.

"And I'm eighteen, we're two years apart."

"Yes, but listen Derek, I promised my brother I wouldn't date a student."

"You don't seem like the type of person that follows orders."

"I'm not but…" Dana said sighing, clearly frustrated. "I would like to date you, really I would, but I can't. I know your type, the most popular guy in school, every guy wants to be you and every girl wants to do you. You think sports are the best thing but you think dancing is easy and anyone could do it. Am I right?" Derek thought about the conversation he had only days earlier, telling Casey that anyone could dance.

"Well, I think dancing is simple. I mean, you gave us really easy stuff today," Derek admitted. "Come on, you gotta love a guy who is honest," he continued smiling again.

"Fine, if you think dancing is so easy then I'll make you a deal. If you can do a perfect double pirouette by Friday then I'll go out with you."

"Deal," Derek said then walked out of the gym. "Oh ya, I'm going to tap that really soon," he said getting into his car and waited for Casey.

Dana shook her head, knowing that there is no possible way that Derek would be able to do that. She picked up her dance bag and walked out of the gym, banging into the last person she thought she would see. "Casey?" she asked not believing it.

"Dana? What the hell are you doing here?" Casey asked, feeling her anger rise up inside her.

"I don't think that is any of your business."

"Well you're not allowed here unless you are a student or a teacher," she said matter of factly.

"And visitors. I came here to visit you," Dana said pinching Casey's cheek. "Who wouldn't want to visit a ray of sunshine like you," she said sarcastically.

"Go fall in a ditch," Casey said, smaking Dana's hand away from her. Before Dana could reply, Casey stormed out. She ran quickly to the car and got in.

Derek started the engine and pulled out of the school parking lot. Neither of them said anything, Casey kept replaying the scene that she was just in seconds before, trying to figure out why Dana was at her school and Derek was still trying to figure out what a double pirouette was. It was funny how he never thought to ask Casey because that would involve talking to her. Once they got home Derek ran to his room as Casey ran to her's, both having the same person on their mind.

Derek quickly went on the computer and looked up what a double pirouette was and cringed when he found out it was turning twice on the ball of one foot. As he tried, he found that he couldn't do even one, not to mention two. Derek developed a knot in his stomach because he realized what he had to do, he had to cross enemy lines to get what he wanted. Derek slowly walked to Casey's room, lifting up his hand reluctantly and knocked on the door.

Casey was pacing in her room, trying to get a possible reason as to why Dana was at her school. Why would she come? Casey kept asking herself. There was no reason to speak to her. They both went different ways, neither of them caring about the other. Don't get it wrong, Casey did care about Dana at one point in her life but it was very clear that Dana never cared about Casey, she knew that was true. So why would she be here? Casey asked herself again but her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock on her door. She shuffled in her room, turning off her music before opening the door.

"Yes?" she said cheerily before she realized who knocked on the door. "Oh, what do you want?" she asked him, expecting him to do something annoying to get her to complain.

"Um, well, uh…"

"I hate to stop our very intense and descriptive conversation but I have homework so," Casey said closing the door but Derek put his hand out to stop it from closing in his face.

"I need you to teach me how to uh, do a double pirouette," he said quickly. Casey stared at him, completely shocked at what he just said.

"Why?" Was all she could say.

"It's for extra credit, if I can do a double pirouette by Friday," he lied. He knew if he told her the truth, that he want to bang his dance teacher, Casey would have certainly not help because apparently, she has morals.

"But you never do homework, much less actually do something for extra credit," Casey said.

"Ya, well I want to get a better average and if I can raise up my gym mark, which will be the easiest to raise, I can get a better average," Derek lied. He had practiced this many times before he went to talk to Casey.

Casey sighed. "This isn't just some lie so you can have a better chance to catch me complaining?" she asked.

"No, I'll even give you a second chance, if you complain when you are helping me, that doesn't count, but only once," Derek said, hoping that Casey would agree. Without her, he would certainly not know how to do a double pirouette.

"Fine," Casey said, grabbing her mixed c.d. and walking towards the stairs. Derek followed her, completely shocked.

"Now?" he asked. He assumed later, after of course, when she finished her homework.

"You are going to need all the time you have, it took me years to do double pirouette. But once you get it, you can do it perfectly every time," she replied as she lifted up the coffee table. Derek quickly came to help her, which surprised her. Usually he just watched her do work, not help.

"Okay the first thing you need to do is find your center, it's right here," she said placing her hand on her stomach. Derek was a bit surprised, that was what Dana had said, find your center.

"I know where it is," Derek said. Casey didn't seem to believe him.

"Okay, rise up on the balls of your feet and close your eyes," she instructed. Derek looked at her like she was crazy.

"I know what a pirouette is and it has nothing to do with closing your eyes," Derek said. Casey rolled her eyes.

"I just want to help you find your center," she explained.

"I know where it is," Derek said, feeling like he was losing his patience.

"Just do it, it will help you turn," she said. Derek rolled his eyes and rose up and closed his eyes. Not long after that, he lost his balance. "Do it again," Casey told him. This time when he did it, he felt hands on his shoulders and he quickly moved away.

"What are you doing!" he shouted. Casey rolled her eyes.

"What does it look like I am doing, I am trying to put your body into good posture, if you slouch or do not relax your shoulders, as you were doing, you won't be able to stay up there for two turns, or even one turn for that matter," Casey clarified.

"Well, I want to see where you put your hands," Derek said. Casey sighed, rolling her eyes. It wasn't as if she liked touching him. It was just if she didn't fix Derek's body, he wouldn't be able to do a double pirouette and Casey would have to talk to Derek longer.

"Fine, just rise up but don't close your eyes," she said. He did as he was told and Casey relaxed his shoulders, fixed his arms, placing them a bit away from Derek's body in front of him but not too far. She then fixed his pelvic. Derek enjoyed this when Dana did it but when Casey did it, he just felt uncomfortable but didn't say anything. He was sure she did not want to be here and that she was doing this as a favour for him. "There, now close your eyes," she said and as he did, he felt like he could keep his balance longer, not that much longer but longer.

"How did you?-"

"You found your center," she explained. "Now let's start with the rises on one foot. You must do as I say for if you forget one thing it could throw off your whole turn. Before you rise, point your foot out and bring it in to fifth while bending both your legs and then rise up," she stated. Derek did as she said and she had to correct many things, for it was hard for someone who never danced before to just be thrown into this. "Okay, I figure you only need to do one on one side so we will do an outer turn to the right. That should be the easiest, I hope," she said as she turned on the c.d. player and it instantly started playing.

"No, no, I will not listen to this shit," Derek said, indicating the song that was playing.

"This is a slow song, for someone who has never danced a step in their life besides grinding a girl, you should be happy it's slow. Besides this song is not shit, it happens to be my favourite song," Casey said. "Now, we listen to what I want or you are on your own."

Derek laughed. "You helped me, I can take it from here," he said.

"Fine let's see," Casey replied. Derek did all the things that Casey told him to do but he ended up falling after doing one turn. "That's what I thought," Casey said, while helping him up. "Now you must prepare before you turn, if you go right into it you will fall like you did. You have to bend your legs, you don't bend you will never get up there and you will never stay up there. Let's try it to music shall we," Casey said turning on the song.

"And prepare and rise up, don't turn, just rise. If you can stay up there in a rise, then you can stay up there in a turn," she said as Derek tried to do everything that Casey told him to do. If he did something wrong, Casey would yell at him to fix it. He began to wonder if Dana was really worth it.

Reviews are always welcome!


	4. Connecting With the Past

a/n: Sorry it took long, hopefully the updates will be faster now since it's summer.

disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 4: Connecting With the Past

Derek woke up the next day, sore as can be. Casey made him rise and lower for an hour, basically until he could do it right. He thought that maybe he was wrong, dancing is a lot harder than he thought, but he wasn't about to admit that to anyone, especially Casey.

During school, Derek couldn't help but watch Casey, she seemed on the edge since they arrived. She kept looking over her shoulder, expecting someone to creep behind her. He asked Emily about it but she said she had no idea either, but promised to find out.

"Case, are you okay?" Emily asked at lunch.

"Ya, fine, perfectly fine, fine, fine, fine," Casey said still looking over her shoulder.

"Um, maybe you should go see Paul," Emily replied, pulling Casey towards Paul's office.

Paul looked up when his door opened. He wasn't surprised that Casey came, she always had an emergency meeting at least once a week but what surprised him was that Emily had pushed her in.

"Sorry Paul, Emily insists that I see you but I don't know why," Casey said.

"Ya Paul, ask her if she's okay," Emily instructed.

"I'm fine, fine, fine, fine, everything is peachy," Casey declared.

"Uh, maybe you should sit," Paul offered as Emily left, shutting the door behind her, causing Casey to feel trapped. "So," Paul continued once Casey sat. "How is everything?"

"Fine," Casey said.

"Even Derek?" Paul questioned.

"Even Derek," Casey confirmed, which made Paul give her a weird look. In the three years that he had known her, Casey always had a problem with Derek. "Well, no,"  
Casey confessed. Paul nodded his head, allowing her to continue. "Derek and I made a bet."

"Oh no, not another one," Paul said, with disappointment in his voice.

"Yup, I know I shouldn't sink down to his level, but it's hard not to."

"So what's it about this time?" Paul asked.

"Apparently I whine too much so we bet that I couldn't live a week without whining, until Friday," Casey explained.

"And do you think you complain too much?" Paul asked.

"Now I do, I have to stop myself a lot before I complain," Casey said. "Paul, do you think people can change?" she asked.

"I do if they want to, like you seem to want to change," Paul stated, assuming the Casey was talking about herself but that wasn't the case. As she nodded, she was thinking about Dana, wondering if there was a possibility that she changed.

"Do you think there is an easy way to see if they changed? Like say you haven't seen someone for about three years, maybe more and they just show up at your school when you thought there was no chance in hell that you would ever see them again," Casey said.

"Casey, what's this about?" Paul asked, he no longer thought they were talking about her. "Is there anything else that you want to tell me?"

Casey wondered if she should tell Paul about Dana. She decided against it though at the last moment, Dana was a sore subject for her. "No Paul, nothing else," Casey said shaking her head just as the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch. Casey got up about to leave but Paul stopped her.

"Casey, if there is anything you need to talk about, just remember my door is always open," he said. Casey nodded before walking out the door.

She wasn't up to tell anyone about Dana. Besides, it could have been a fluke, Dana could have came yesterday just to screw with her mind. She never recalled telling Dana what school she was moving to but that didn't mean anything, she could have told her or Nora could have. Casey was feeling more confident during her last two periods, assuming that Dana had come just to bother her and would probably never show up again.

By the end of school, Casey was completely over worrying about Dana, that is until she saw Dana walking down the hallway. Casey, not wanting to bump into her again, ran into the girl's washroom that she luckily passed by. Casey stayed in there for two minutes, giving Dana plenty of time to walk past the washroom. Okay, this isn't working, Casey thought to herself. She wanted answers and she was determined to get them any other way besides talking to Dana, even talking to 'him,' but first she was going to try talking her best friend from Toronto, Heather.

Which is exactly what she did. Once she got home from school, she ran into her room, grabbing the portable phone on her way. She began dialling, knowing the phone number since she was five. This was one of the many reasons why Casey didn't want to move to London when Nora announced that she was marrying George. She didn't want to leave her friends on the dance team, especially Heather. Casey and Heather had stayed in contact with msn and facebook and Casey could have seen if Heather was online but Casey needed to talk to her as fast as she could.

"Hello," a familiar voice sang into the phone.

"You know what invention we have seem to always be left out in, caller I.D.," Casey said.

"Casey? Casey! Hey why are you calling me?" Heather squealed into the phone.

"I need to ask you something that couldn't wait." Heather heard the intensity in Casey's voice and quickly became serious.

"Ya, sure Case, what's up?" she asked.

"When was the last time you saw Dana?" Casey questioned.

"Dana? As in Dana Cane?" Heather asked to clarify.

"Yes."

"I haven't seen her since the day you… since the day of the final competition three years ago, why? Have you seen her?"

"I saw her at my school," Casey confessed.

"Did you talk to her?" Heather questioned.

"Yes, but I was so shock that I didn't say much. I only said like a sentence before I ran out of the school," Casey told Heather.

"Do you think that she will ask you to-"

"No, she's too old to compete, I think. Besides, it would be better if she went solo. I just called to see if you had heard from her and had any idea why she would be in London," Casey replied.

"I have no idea, but you know who might…" Heather started to suggest.

"I know, it's just, I don't really want to call him," Casey said.

"Well, he did feel guilty when it happened, I'm sure he would give you all the information he has. You should call him, do you have his number?" Heather said.

"Engraved in my brain," Casey replied.

"K, call him and keep me posted, bye, be strong," Heather said.

"I'll try, bye," Casey said before she hanged up. Casey sighed, staring at the phone. She was debating if she should call him, she did want answers, she just wished that she didn't have to call him to get them. Casey began to dial, making up her mind that her curiosity was bigger than her fear and sadness.

"Hello," a small voice said into the phone.

Casey smiled. "Hey Ally, it's Casey, is Tristan there?" she asked.

Ally got really excited. "Casey! You never call anymore. I miss you and Lizzie so much," she said.

"Me too, maybe we'll come and visit you in the summer," Casey said. She knew there wasn't a chance in hell that she would visit in the summer but maybe Lizzie would.

"You should, oh, Tristan's coming down the stairs now, here, it's Casey," Ally said, speaking the last part to her older brother.

"Casey?" Casey heard a deep, sexy voice say into the phone. Casey took a deep breath in.

"Hey, Tristan," she finally said.

--

Derek left his room after playing on the computer a bit. He was expecting Casey to come into his room and tell him it was time for practice but after fifteen minutes passed by he started to wonder if she forgot. She told him that she would help him everyday right after school for an hour, then he was on his own to practice until the next day. He walked to Casey's room but stopped at the door, noticing that she had left the door slightly open. Derek looked in, seeing Casey sitting on her bed, back facing him, talking on the phone. Of course being Derek, he was always one to listen on people's private conversations so it was natural that he listened to Casey's.

"So you haven't seen her for a while?" Casey asked into the phone. "Huh-huh, and you have no idea why- ya, of course… Ya, I know I haven't called but can you blame me?… Ya… K, thanks for your time… Ya, talk to you later, bye."

Casey pressed the end button on the phone and put it down slowly while sighing. She was frustrated that Tristan wasn't able to help her. It was a waste to call up the past that should be dead and buried. She put her hands through her hair, wondering what she should do now. Her thoughts were broken though when she heard someone knocking on her door. She looked up, seeing Derek enter slightly.

"Hey, I thought you said that you would help me everyday after school, right after school," Derek said. He felt uncomfortable. He had never seen Casey look so sad and frustrated, not even before exams.

"Ya, sorry, I just had to call someone, let's go practice," Casey said getting up. She grabbed her c.d. and left her bedroom, Derek followed, watching Casey carefully.

"Alright, let's start with a warm-up," Casey said pressing play on the c.d. player and a song that Derek didn't recognize filled the room.

"Hey, what happened to that song, you know, the one you played yesterday, your favourite song?" Derek asked.

"You mean the song that you said was shit? I figured you wanted to listen to something else since you didn't like it," Casey replied.

"No, it's okay, we can listen to it," Derek said.

"Why?" Casey asked, growing suspicious, thinking that Derek had a motive behind his kindness.

"You just seem like you're having a bad day and I thought it might make you feel better," Derek said.

He couldn't believe what he was saying. He knew he was being sensitive but he couldn't get Casey's voice, the one she was using when she was talking on the phone out of his head. She sounded so depressed and for some reason, he didn't want her to feel worse.

Casey gave him one more weird look. She was about to ask him if he heard her phone conversation but decided against it. She just walked over to the c.d. player and changed the song. Derek relaxed a bit, glad that Casey hadn't asked him what he meant, afraid she would discover that he heard her on the phone.

"Hey, what's this song called?" Derek asked, he didn't know why he spoke, he just assumed that he wanted to bring up conversation.

"'Be Be Your Love,'" Casey said before she started instructing him.

Reviews are welcome


	5. More Questions, Few Answers

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 5: More Questions, Few Answers

Derek watched Casey with a closer eye on Wednesday. He kept telling himself that he was watched her because of the bet but truthfully, he was worried about her. This morning he saw bags under her eyes, as if she stayed awake for half of the night. He didn't mention it to her though, she was a big girl, she can take care of herself, or at least that's what he told himself. Unfortunately for Casey, he was right, she hadn't gotten much sleep because she was thinking about Dana.

Casey went to school, once again looking over her shoulder. Emily was getting really worried about Casey but she assured her though that she was going to see Paul at lunch, which calmed Emily nerves down.

"Hey Casey," Paul said as she walked in.

"Paul," Casey said as she sat down, with complete seriousness in her voice. She had decided to talk to him about Dana, hoping that he could help.

"Yes Casey?" Paul said, pushing her on.

"Do you know if there has been anyone that has come to the school as a visitor named Dana Cane?" Casey asked and Paul gave Casey a weird look.

"Uh, I wouldn't know," he said.

"Is there a way that you could find out?"

"Um, the secretary would know, there is a sign-in book."

"Could you check it now, I'll wait here." Casey said eagerly

"Casey, what's this about?"

"Please, can you look now."

Never seeing Casey act this way, Paul left the room. He came back moments later sitting back down in his chair. "There's no one by that name who signed-in in the past two weeks," Paul told her.

Casey slumped back down in her seat, thinking up another scenario. "Paul, how many years does it take to become a teacher after high school?" Casey questioned.

"Uh, about four years Undergrad, then one year in teacher's college, it also depends if the person wants their Masters, which could be another two years," Paul said, still completely confused.

"Can someone who's twenty become a teacher?" she asked.

"Not unless they're child geniuses. Casey, can you please tell me what this is about," Paul pleaded.

"It's just… I've seen someone who is in the school but it doesn't make sense. Paul are you sure there is no one by the name Dana Cane that is a visitor or a teacher?" Casey asked and Paul shook his head.

"There's a Mr. Cane, but that's it," Paul said. Casey knew that Coach Cane looked like he was in his early thirties when she's seen him at Derek's hockey games, being his coach.

"Is he married?" Casey asked, thinking that Dana is the type to marry young, and then have four or five divorces in her life.

"No," Paul said.

Casey tried to make another connection between Dana and Coach Cane, but she couldn't think of any. She knew Dana didn't have any siblings and she would know since she was over at Dana's house when she was younger. It was just Dana and her mother. Dana's father had walked out on them when she was born and she never really talked about him.

"Could you keep a look out though, just in case? Her name is Dana Cane," Casey said.

"Sure, will do," Paul replied before Casey got up and left his office.

Even though Paul said he would keep a look out, Casey couldn't concentrate during class. Dana kept filling her head along with painful memories. During English, she began to feel tears filling her eyes because she couldn't stop thinking about what happened three years ago. She raised her hand quickly, asking to go to the washroom. Her teacher, being a man naturally was afraid of a female crying, told her to take all the time she needed, and to even take the rest of the period.

Casey grabbed her things and left the classroom, leaving just before she felt a tear roll down her cheek. "Get a grip Casey!" she ordered herself as she started walking in the hallway. She wasn't sure where she was going but she didn't care. She was alone in the hallway and that was all that mattered. Unfortunately for Casey, she wasn't alone for long.

"Aw, Casey, talking to yourself again," a voice said.

Casey shivered, knowing the voice from anywhere. She turned slowly, facing Dana. "What are you doing here?" she asked, trying not to let her voice crack and hold back the tears at the same time.

"Are those tears? Of course they are. What a classic Casey thing to do," Dana said. "Did you get 99 percent on a test instead of 100 percent?" she mocked.

"Dana, either tell me what you are doing here or get lost," Casey replied, trying to build up her confidence.

"Wow, what rudeness Casey. No wonder you couldn't hold onto your boyfriend. Well, I think it was more of your constant nagging that drove him away," Dana said while smirking. She was really enjoying this, and she knew from the look on Casey's face that she really stung her deep down.

"Just leave me alone!" Casey whispered harshly before she stormed off. She waited until she got to the stairs before she broke into a run. She knew there was one place in this school where she wouldn't run into Dana, the library. She wondered when the last time Dana actually read something.

Casey walked into the library and went straight to the back where the last shelves of books were. Luckily, no one saw her come in so she was able to cry softly in peace. She wanted this to stop, there was too much blast from the past for her to handle. She cried there softly before she heard someone walking towards her.

She tried to wipe the tears off her face and look a bit presentable to the person so they wouldn't think she was a crying freak. She looked up when the walking stopped and was shocked to see who was standing there.

"Casey, are you alright?" Derek asked, quickly kneeling down in front of her.

"Ya, fine," she sniffled. "What are you doing here?" she asked. Derek looked away, as if he was caught doing something wrong.

"Oh, uh, you were gone a long time and I was worried so I asked if I could look for you," he confessed.

"You were worried about me?" Casey questioned, shocked at his thoughtfulness.

"Well, ya, if something happened to you, Nora would blame me," Derek replied, which caused Casey smile.

"Thanks for caring Derek."

"Shh! Not so loud, I don't want my rep to be damaged."

"Your secret is safe with me," Casey replied, standing up and walking towards the library door, wanting to get back to class.

"Hey, aren't you going to tell me why you're upset, I can keep a secret," Derek called, trying to catch up to her.

"Not a chance in hell," Casey called back.

--

For the rest of the day, Casey was able to control her emotions about Dana. Next time she'd see her, Casey would be prepared. Dana consumed her mind though because she was still trying to figure out why she was at her school. The only time she didn't think about Dana was when she was shouting instructions at Derek.

"Pull up! Bend your legs! Keep your arms in front of you! And for goodness sakes, spot!" Casey screamed over the music at Derek. Derek was trying to remember all the things Casey told him and was beginning to get frustrated. He decided to give it all he got and spun as fast as he could but that just resulted in him falling.

Casey sighed and helped him up. "You have to control your speed and you can't wind up, you will lose your balance," Casey instructed him. "Geeze don't you listen to me?" she asked him, knowing that she already told him at least five times today about watching his speed.

"Well, maybe if you stop yelling twenty things at me then I can focus," Derek yelled at her, stepping closer to her, trying to get into his face like he always did when he fought with her.

"I don't yell them, I instruct them! Besides if I don't say them all when you turn, how are you going to remember them when you have to do it on Friday?" Casey shouted back at him, taking a step towards him.

"How do you know your voice will be in my head screaming at me on Friday?" Derek shouted back in her face since they were now inches apart.

"Oh I know my voice is always in your head you just chose to ignore it!" Casey screamed. They both paused, glaring at each other before they burst out laughing.

"I never thought I would say this, but I think you're right, your voice is always in my head nagging me," Derek said while he was laughing.

"Well won't this be refreshing since my voice is instructing you instead of nagging you," Casey said while laughing. They were both laughing so hard that the ended up falling on the floor, holding their stomachs.

Edwin and Lizzie, who heard the whole thing from the kitchen were so confused. They assumed that they must have missed something because the conversation Derek and Casey were having, really wasn't that funny. Lizzie was about to walk to them and ask them but Edwin stopped her.

"No, it's best not to disturb them," Edwin said. Lizzie nodded, both agreeing that they would just watch their siblings' strange actions.

Once Casey was able to breathe again, she stood up. "Shall we get back to work?" Casey asked just when the timer went off on the kitchen. Casey set the timer to signal her 'help Derek hour' was done. Derek and Casey both paused, looking at the kitchen. Casey saw Lizzie turn off the buzzer then went back to her homework. Casey then turned to Derek, "Well, we did waste some time laughing-"

"And I do need a lot of work, if you don't mind, could you help me longer today?" Derek finished.

"No I don't mind, let's take it from the top," Casey said pressing the back button on the c.d. player, causing 'Be Be Your Love' to play again.

She watched Derek attempt at the turns but she wasn't saying anything. Her mind was venturing back to thoughts about Dana. She then thought to ask Derek about her. He was closer to Coach Cane than she was, maybe Dana was some distant relative of his.

"Hey Derek," Casey began.

Derek stopped turning and looked at her. "Ya?"

"Um, does the name Dana Cane mean anything to you, like is she a relative of Coach Cane that has stopped by at school this week?" Casey asked quickly.

Derek gave her a weird look, he wondered if she knew why he really wanted to do a double pirouette. He then thought that Casey would have confronted him after school when they were in the car, and yelled at him. She wouldn't have waited until she was helping him to confront him. At least that's what he hoped. He decided to play the dumb card, claiming he didn't know what she was talking about if she did know and confronted him about it.

"No, never heard the name before. I mean Coach could have a relative by that name but I wouldn't know," Derek claimed.

Casey nodded thinking that at least it was worth a try. Derek continued to attempt a double pirouette as she watched him. She was about to shout an instruction but thought that doing something might help him remember. Derek watched Casey from the corner of his eye walk to the front door. She then rubbed her foot in the corner and walked back to him. Before Derek could do anything, Casey smacked him in the butt, putting dust and dirt on his pants.

"Don't rub it off, it will remind you to not stick your butt out. It will give you good posture and you will be able to balance better," Casey said. Derek just continued to stare at her, thinking that this is what Dana did to Duncan only two days before. "Why are you looking at me like that, get to work," Casey said.

"It's just… where did you learn how to do that?" Derek asked.

"Learn to do what?" Casey asked, confused at the question.

"To smack people in the ass to help remind them to keep their pelvic in," Derek clarified.

Casey laughed. "My old dance teacher use to do that. You know how many times she smacked me in the butt, putting dust on my clothes to remind me. You probably would have liked her if you met her," Casey said. Derek nodded, beginning to get back to work.

"Bend your legs! Spot! Pointe your toes!" Casey began to yell at him when the phone rang.

"Casey, phone's for you, it's Heather," Lizzie said, handing Casey the portable phone.

"Just hang on, I have to take this," Casey told Derek, grabbing the phone. "Hey Heather," Casey said into the phone.

"Hey, so how'd it go with Tristan?" Heather asked.

"It went fine, awkward, but fine," Casey replied, glancing at Derek to see if he was listening. Surprisingly though, he was practicing.

"Well, just a heads up, Tristan called me yesterday, asking questions about you," Heather told her.

"What type of questions?" Casey asked.

"Oh, you know, like how you're doing, where do you plan to go next year, what do you plan to study in. Things like that."

"And you told him what?"

"The answers of course. Casey, if you're worried that he will contact you, don't. You'd blocked his email and he doesn't have your phone number. Even if he finds a way to contact you, you don't have to talk to him so just relax, alright."

"Alright. Hey listen, I have to go, I'll talk to you later," Casey said, feeling guilty that she was talking when Derek was working so hard.

"K, keep me posted, bye."

"Bye," Casey said, turning off the phone seconds later. "K, so where were we?" Casey asked Derek. "Oh ya," Casey continued before Derek could speak. "Spot! Pull up! And pointe your toes, remember, you're a dancer!"

Reviews are always welcome!


	6. Unknown Feelings

disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 6: Unknown Feelings

Casey went to school the next day with her head held high. No one had the right to make her feel the way Dana Cane made her feel. This was her school, her friends, her life. Dana didn't belong here, and the next time she saw Dana she planned to just keep going on with her life like she didn't exist. It worked out well because she didn't see Dana during school. She figured Dana was gone, spreading her terror to others. Casey was getting over her fear of Dana a bit and she even didn't think about her when she was trying to help Derek.

"Pull up your body! Don't wind before you turn! And for the love of everything holy spot!" Casey was so angry, it was like her instructions went in one ear and out the other. She stomped over to the c.d. player and turned off the music. She then took a deep breath before she spoke. "Derek, do you remember when I showed you how to spot?" she asked calmly.

Derek nodded, unable to speak. Casey had worked him for at least two hours. He didn't dare tell her that the timer went off a long time ago. He knew she wouldn't hear it now because Edwin turned off the timer. This was the last time Derek saw any of his siblings. They seemed to all be hiding, in which he didn't blame them. No one wanted to face Casey when she got into her 'overachieving' mode.

"Okay Derek, can you please show me how to spot, just turn, don't do a pirouette," Casey said, still trying to remain calm. Derek showed her, in which she was so grateful that at least he sort of listened to her. "So it seems you know how to spot, so is there a reason why you don't spot, or do you just hope I'll yell at you so much that I will die from the frustration!" Casey shouted the last part at him, losing her cool.

"I'm sorry! I just can't do this! We should just give up!" Derek shouted, running a hand through his hair and sitting down on the couch. He was angry that he still couldn't do a double pirouette because he really wanted to nail Dana. He would just have to learn to deal with disappointment. He wasn't going to do Dana but he seemed to be okay with it. He didn't have time to analyze why he was okay with it because Casey started talking again, in her normal voice.

"Don't say that, you are making great progress. I'm sure your teacher will give you the bonus marks, since compared to the beginning of the week, you didn't even know what a pirouette was," she said, sitting down beside him, rubbing his arm.

"No she- he won't give me the marks unless it's perfect." Derek couldn't believe his slip up and hoped Casey didn't notice. Luckily, she didn't.

Casey was thinking about how to get Derek to do a double pirouette. "You know Derek, doing a double pirouette is the technique part of dancing, but dancing is so much more that technique. It also consists of what comes from the heart," Casey said. Derek looked at her like she was crazy.

"We're not going to get in touch with our feelings are we?" Derek asked. There was nothing scarier that talking about his feelings with a girl.

"Let's just try something, okay?" Casey asked, although it was a rhetorical question. She walked over to the c.d. player and went to 'Be Be Your Love.' She then turned around and lied down on the carpet as Derek looked at her like she was crazy.

"Just trust me, lie down beside me," she instructed.

Usually Derek would have made a joke saying 'I knew you wanted me, it was only a matter of time' but for some reason he couldn't. He felt something in his stomach that he never felt before but hoped it was just indigestion. He slowly lied down beside her, smelling her shampoo in her hair since their heads were right next to each other.

"K, close your eyes, listen to the music, and imagine yourself doing a double pirouette perfectly to the music," she said.

She had her eyes closed as she said it and Derek did the same. He imagined himself in the gym of his school, Dana and the rest of his classmates watching as he prepared to do a double pirouette to the music. Only before he imagined himself turning, he imagined himself looking for something in the gym to spot. His eyes first laid on Dana and was about to do the double pirouette but then he saw Casey behind Dana and decided to look at imaginary Casey as he turned. He did a perfect double pirouette and once he finished he looked to the imaginary Casey for approval, and there she was jumping up and down, cheering that he did it. Once the song ended, Derek and Casey opened their eyes and sat up.

"Okay, let's see if it helped," Casey said, standing up to press the back button on the c.d. player.

Derek stood up, keeping in mind all the things Casey told him and he prepared and did a double pirouette. Only, this time when he did it, Casey didn't yell something at him after, telling him what he did wrong. He turned to Casey and she started jumping up and down.

"Derek you did it! You did a double pirouette!" she cried as she jumped on him to hug him. Derek braced the hug with open arms, so happy that he finally did it. He spun Casey around a couple times before putting her down. "Okay, now all you have to do is just remember what you did before you do a double pirouette tomorrow and you will nail it!" Casey said.

Derek winced at Casey's choice of words. He started feeling guilty and wished that the reason he given Casey was the truth. Since it wasn't, he felt he had to do something for her. He glanced at the clock making a decision that there was enough time.

"I… uh… have to go out. Tell Nora and dad that I may be a little late for dinner," Derek said before he ran out the door. Casey looked at the closed front door in confusion. Never had she had so much fun with Derek and wished that it didn't end. She felt a little depressed that Derek left, which was surprising because usually she was glad when he left the room.

The phone brought Casey out of her thoughts before she had time to think about why she was saddened because Derek left. She ran and picked up the phone in the kitchen. "Hello," Casey said, jumping up to sit on the counter beside the phone.

"Hey Casey, how are you?" Casey heard a male voice say.

"Tristan? Why are you calling?" Casey demanded. After her week with talking to Dana, she became more and more resentful towards Tristan. He was responsible for hurting her as much as Dana was.

"I just wanted to see if you figured out why Dana was at your school," Tristan said innocently.

"No, I don't, anything else?" Casey said quickly, wanting to get off the phone.

"Oh, well I was hoping we could talk about some things, especially about what happened."

Casey sighed. "Tristan, that's in the past, it's not even in the recent past. I just don't want any connection with my old life," Casey explained.

"You still talk to Heather," Tristan said, proving Casey's comment wrong. "Why can't you talk to me?" he asked.

"Tristan, I've known Heather since I started dancing, which was when I was three. Not many people have a friend that they have known for basically their whole life."

"We met when I was six and you were five, doesn't that count as almost our whole life?"

"No Tristan, it doesn't. Besides, Heather would never hurt me-"

"I didn't mean to hurt you, it was an accident," Tristan interrupted.

"It wasn't like you accidently ran over my dog, you knew exactly what you were doing and you had plenty of time to stop but you didn't until you got caught. My family, my stepfamily, who have known me for only three years treat me better than you ever did and would never hurt me that much. Goodbye Tristan," Casey said, hanging up before he could reply.

Once she hung up, she dialled Heather's number. "Hello?" Heather said into the phone.

"If Tristan calls, don't say anything about me, if he mentions me, don't give him any information okay?" Casey said.

"Well hello to you too."

"Heather this is serious, don't say anything about me to him, he'll forget me faster."

"Ya, Case, don't worry. I won't say a thing to him about you. In fact, I won't even talk to him, I never liked him anyways."

"No, don't end your friendship because of me," Casey pleaded.

"What friendship? We never really talked much when you were here and the only time he talked to me when you left was to ask about you. We don't have a friendship. I was only friends with Dana but I had to end that because what she did was not only mean but heartless. Casey, I'm fine with ending any kind of contact with that scum," Heather assured her.

"Thanks, you're a good friend."

"I know, praise me, worship me."

Before Casey could reply, she heard the front door open and her mother's voice. "Uh, I have to go, I'll worship you later."

"K, bye," Heather said.

"Bye," Casey replied, hanging up the phone as her mother walked in the kitchen with groceries.

"Hey Casey, who was on the phone?" Nora asked as she began to put away the groceries.

"Heather," Casey said, getting off the counter to help her mother.

"Really, why did she call? Usually you two just talk on the computer," Nora replied.

"Um, I called her actually, I saw Dana at school a couple days ago," Casey confessed. She felt that her mother could have some advice, she did when Tristan broke her heart.

Nora stopped what she was doing and looked at her eldest daughter. "She was at your school?"

Casey nodded. "I called Heather a couple days ago to ask her if she knew why Dana was here, she didn't though,"

"Then what did you do?" Nora asked, already knowing the answer but hoped Casey didn't do it.

"I called Tristan to ask him," Casey said, as she continued to put away the groceries, trying to act as if the contact was no big deal

Nora took a breath in. "And did he know?"

Casey shook her head, feeling a tear roll down her cheek. "No he didn't." she said as her voice cracked.

"Oh Casey," Nora said, pulling Casey into a hug. "Why didn't you come to me sooner, I could have called and found out," Nora continued as she tried to comfort her daughter.

"It's not just that," Casey replied, pulling away from her mother's hug so she could look in Nora's face. "I keep seeing Dana in the school, and our meetings are not friendly. And Tristan keeps calling, wanting to talk but I don't want to talk to him. I just want him and Dana to go away," Casey said, unable to stop the tears.

Nora pulled her back into a hug, allowing Casey to cry on her shoulder. As she was comforting her daughter, in the corner of her eye, she saw George walk into the kitchen. He quickly turned around and walked out because he was uncomfortable with tears. This made Nora realize the world outside her kitchen and her crying daughter. She pulled Casey off her shoulders and looked at her.

"Listen," Nora said, "you have to stop crying. You can't let them get to you. They hurt you so badly but you can't do anything about that. You are an intelligent, beautiful girl and you should never let anyone bring you down. You are going to keep your head held high and the next time you see Dana, just walk away. Show her that she has no power over you, not anymore. And as for Tristan, don't take his calls. If he calls again, just give me the phone, I'll set him straight. Okay Casey," Nora demanded.

Casey nodded, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "Thanks mom, I needed that," she replied.

"Good, no more crying. Now go get cleaned up while I get dinner started," Nora commanded. Casey hugged her one more time before she ran upstairs to her room to begin her homework.

--

Derek walked in his house just as Nora was calling everyone to eat. He hung up his jacket but before he walked to the table, he checked his jacket pocket again to make sure he didn't loose his gift to Casey. His fingers reassured him that it was still there and he walked to the table and sat down across from Casey.

He knew that she had been crying earlier in the evening because George called him, asking him if he knew why Casey was upset. Well George first asked if Derek did something to cause her to cry. Derek couldn't think of anything and George hung up.

After Derek closed his cell phone, he remembered the state Casey was in when he found her in the library. She had been crying there too and he also remembered the phone call, how sad she looked. He felt like it was his duty to cheer her up, so he bought something that blew a lot of his money. He was going to have to pick up a lot of extra shifts at his work but he felt that it was worth it if it made Casey smile.

So after dinner, Derek waited until Casey went upstairs and then he went to his jacket pocket. He then walked up the stairs, venturing to Casey's door. He knocked and waited for her to say 'come in' before he entered.

Casey turned around in her desk chair as Derek walked in. She watched him come in but he didn't go to her bed to sit down like he usually did when he wanted to bug her. She had the feeling though that he didn't come in to bother her, and that she was happy that he came in. She was still confused at why Derek left so abruptly earlier and was hoping he would tell her.

"Hey," Derek said, still standing, feeling completely awkward.

"Hey yourself," Casey replied, "do you want to sit?" she asked, pointing to the bed.

"Uh sure," Derek said, sitting down on it, but feeling a bit awkward. Once he sat down, neither one knew what to say. Usually they had many things to say to each other since they disagreed so much.

"So," Casey said, trying to break the silence and encourage Derek to tell her why he was in her room.

"So," Derek repeated, smiling awkwardly. He was afraid to give Casey the gift. The salesman at the store assured him that Casey would like it but he was now having some doubts. He wanted Casey to like it so badly, and decided to get it over and done with. "I uh, bought you something," Derek said pulling out the jewellery box and handing it to Casey. "I wanted to thank you, for helping me this week."

Casey took the jewellery box from Derek's hands but didn't open it. She was so shocked at this token of gratitude that Derek gave her. Derek never said thank you, much less give a present. "What is it?" she questioned.

Derek laughed, feeling his nerves increased once he gave Casey the gift. "Well I guess you just have to open it up and see," he said.

Casey nodded, slowly opening it up, and gasped at what she saw. She took the necklace out of the box. It was in the shape of a heart, with the inscription 'Be Be Your Love.' "Derek, I uh, I can't accept this. It must've cost you a fortune to buy this," Casey said, not taking her eyes off the necklace.

Derek shook his head. "It's yours Casey, I'm not returning it. Besides I can't since it inscribed. It was hell to get the inscription. They kept asking me if I was sure I wanted the first word repeated twice. I'm not taking it back, I guess you're just stuck with it," Derek replied.

"Well, it'll be such a burden," Casey teased as she looked at Derek.

"Here, let me help you put it on," Derek said getting up and taking the necklace out of her hands.

Casey held up her hair as Derek put it on. As she felt his hands touch her neck, shivers travelled down her spine. She didn't know why though, the only other person that could make her feel that way was Tristan.

"There," Derek said, letting go of the necklace.

He came around and bent down to look at the necklace. Casey looked down too, thinking to herself that she would never take it off. They both looked up and realized that they were inches apart from each other, the closest they have ever been when they weren't fighting. For a second, their eyes locked and Casey prayed that Derek would kiss her but then they heard Marti scream for her toy that she couldn't find, which seemed to bring them back to reality. Derek pulled away, clearing his throat as Casey looked down at the necklace.

"Thank you Derek, I really love it," Casey said, looking up at him.

"No problem. Um, I gotta go do stuff so I'll talk to you later," Derek replied, turning to leave.

"Derek," Casey called just before Derek reached the door. He turned around, hoping that Casey would jump on him and kiss him until they both ran out of air. He turned around though and saw that Casey didn't move out of her desk chair.

"Ya?" he questioned.

"Um, I have last period spare tomorrow. I was planning to go to the library but I can come and watch if you want. My presence might help you remember to pull up, spot, pointe your toes, etc." she said, smiling at him. She seemed to be smiling a lot recently when Derek was around.

"Uh, no," Derek said quickly. He didn't want her to find out the real reason why he wanted her help. He was actually planning to do the double pirouette just to prove to everyone that he can do it, but he was going to turn Dana down. He didn't want to do her anymore. He wanted to date Casey but he didn't have enough courage to ask her out. The fearless Derek was afraid to ask a girl out, he would have never had thought. He glanced at Casey and she looked a little disappointed.

"I uh… the extra credit is going to be after school," Derek said, knowing that Casey always got caught up in books and would never make it to the gym because it was on the other side of the school from the library. "Go to the library, I'll meet you after school by the car," he said.

"K," she said, nodding her head. "Just remember to be confident, you can do it," Casey said.

"Thanks Case," Derek replied as he opened the door and walked out as Casey got up to shut the door behind him.

Both leaned on their side of the door, replaying the situation in their mind. Both wanted to open the door again and kiss the other continuously, but neither had the guts to do it. So they both stayed where they were, leaning on the door, not knowing the other's feelings.

Reviews are always welcome!


	7. When Everything Changes

disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 7: When Everything Changes

Derek woke up the next day with a horrible feeling in his stomach. He wanted to tell Casey his feelings and the truth about Dana but he wanted to turn down Dana first. He wanted to prove to Casey what his intentions were. So he planned to tell her on the way home from school, so there would be no interruptions. Derek smiled for the first time in history in the morning and he knew it was because he was thinking about Casey.

Casey woke up an hour before Derek did. She couldn't sleep because she wanted to tell Derek how she felt. She sat in her bed for an hour thinking how and when she would tell Derek. She decided to tell him after school, when they were in the car coming home. She wanted to tell him when no one else was around. She didn't want to tell him in the morning because Derek was doing the extra credit assignment today and she wanted his mind to just be on that and nothing else.

The beginning of the car ride to school, Derek and Casey was both silent. Casey assumed Derek was worried about the extra credit. Playing with her necklace Derek gave her, she turned to him. "You're going to do great," Casey said, causing Derek to come out of his thoughts.

"What?" he asked, looking at her for a second before putting his eyes back onto the road.

"You're going to do the double pirouette perfectly, just don't over think it. Let the music guide you and you will be fine," Casey assured him.

Derek smiled. "Thanks Case for believing in me," he said.

"Hey, I know you can do it," Casey replied. She then began to laugh.

"What? What's so funny?" Derek asked.

"I was just thinking about the bet. Today is the last day that I can't whine. I have been so caught up with the double pirouette that I completely forgotten all about it," she said.

Derek laughed too. "Ya, I've forgotten too. Well I guess you won," he said.

"Not yet, I still can't complain until after school. It will end officially when we get home."

"I guess I should enjoy my last chance of driving the car for a while."

"How do you know I won't complain?" she asked.

"I believe in you," Derek said, looking at her one more time before they pulled into the parking lot of the school.

Casey smiled. "Thanks Derek," she said, still playing with the necklace. Derek noticed her wearing it, which made him smile too.

--

Casey looked at her watch. It was almost the end of last period and she began to back up her books. She was in the library and she wanted to watch Derek do the double pirouette. She knew that the library and the gym were on opposite ends of the schools so she kept a watchful eye on the clock.

She left the library and started making her trip down to the gym when she heard her name being called behind her. She turned around, seeing Paul jog a bit to catch up to her.

"You know how hard it is to find you?" Paul said while panting, Paul did not like exercise.

"Sorry, I had a spare and I was in the library," Casey explained.

"Well next time stay in the library, I just missed you," Paul said.

Casey felt like they were getting off topic. "Paul, why did you want to see me?" she asked.

"I found out who Dana Cane is and why she's here," Paul said. Casey became very excited.

"Well?" she asked, encouraging him.

"Dana Cane is Coach Cane's half-sister. She came here to teach dance for a week in his gym classes," Paul told her.

Casey's smile disappeared but before Paul could ask her what was wrong, she thanked him and ran towards the gym. Paul called her name and chased after her, but his speed was no match for Casey's. She didn't slow down or look back when she heard her name or when the bell rang because her mind was filled with questions. She remembered that she asked Derek if he knew Dana and he said he didn't. She wanted to know why he lied to her, it didn't make sense. She then became angry with herself because she forgot the one memory that Dana mentioned a brother.

"_Dana, Dana," eleven-year-old Casey called, walking into Dana's house. She always walked in, Dana's mother always made her feel like family. Dana and Casey were like sisters. They grew closer when Casey's parents got a divorce, they both could relate to living with one parent. Dana's father ran off when she was just a baby. "Dana," Casey called again. She wondered why no one was answering her, they knew she was coming over. _

"_Oh, hey Casey," Dana's mother said, coming out of the kitchen. "Dana's upstairs but she's not up for company, so I think you're going to have to come back another-"_

"_Mom," Dana said, standing at the top of the stairs. Casey could tell that Dana had been crying. "Can I talk to Casey, please, just for a bit," she said. Dana's mother nodded and Casey followed Dana into her room. Dana closed the door behind her and sat on her bed. Casey sat beside her, watching tears fill Dana's eyes._

"_Dana, what's wrong?" Casey asked._

"_You know how my dad ran off when I was a baby," Dana began._

"_Ya," Casey said, a bit confused._

"_It turns out he did it before too. I have a half-brother. He's twenty-four. My dad left him and his mom too after he was born. He was trying to find my dad and found out about me. He wants to have a relationship with me," Dana told her._

"_Well, do you? Dana you always wished to have a real sibling and now you have one. Plus he's older so he can buy you stuff, it might be fun," Casey said. _

"_So you think this is a good thing?" Dana asked._

"_Well not that your father has left more of his children than just you but you have a brother who wants to know you. I think you should give it a try," Casey encouraged._

"_Okay, I guess I will. Wow, I have a brother," Dana said smiling._

Casey shook her head. How could she forget about Dana's half-brother. It didn't matter though, what she wanted to know is why Derek lied to her. She was so absorbed with getting to the gym that she didn't see Dana coming out of the gym office and they collided into each other.

"Wow, Casey, watch out," Dana said, turning to go to the gym.

"Why are you here? You hate teaching," Casey replied.

Dana turned around to face her. "What makes you think I'm teaching? Maybe I came here to visit you," Dana said.

"I know you're here teaching dance for Coach Cane. I wonder what the principal would say if I told him that you had been harassing me," Casey said, remembering that her mother told her not to show fear.

Dana laughed at her comment. "Go ahead, I'm done teaching, as of the bell ring. I just have to go back because I promised a boy that I would date him if he could do a perfect double pirouette. I was kidding though, I will date him, and do more with him no matter how terrible his double pirouette is. Gotta run, bye now," Dana said, waving as she walked into the gym.

Casey couldn't believe it, Derek had lied to her about everything. She just didn't believe it, she had to have proof. She opened the doors to the gym as she saw Derek prepare for the double pirouette.

This is it. Derek thought as he prepared for the double pirouette. He didn't care that his friends were watching or that Dana was watching. He just wanted to make Casey proud. As he imagined it though, when he was looking for something to spot, he saw Dana, but then Casey behind her. He decided to use Casey to spot as he did the turn.

Once he finished, he heard cheers coming from his friends, and saw Dana smiling from the corner of his eye. What was different from when he imagined it was that Casey was supposed to be jumping up and down. Instead, he saw a tear roll down her cheek and she quickly turned to leave. Derek knew this wasn't a happy tear and wanted to run after her. He was stopped though by his friends, all wanting to high-five him and crowded around him. He then saw Dana as she was clapping.

"Well Derek, a deal is a deal, pick me up at seven tonight," Dana said.

"Sorry, can't. I don't want to go out with you anymore," he said quickly as he ran out of the gym, chasing after Casey.

He wished he got out of there a moment faster because he saw Dana's face fall. He really didn't want to embarrass her, with his lame line of rejection but Casey was more important to him. She was crying and he wanted to know why. She had been crying for too long without him asking questions and enough was enough.

He was shocked when he reached the car and saw that Casey wasn't there. He got in quickly and started to drive off in the direction of his house, hoping to see Casey walking home. He was in luck because he saw her walking. He rolled down the window while slowing down his speed.

"Casey, what's wrong?" Derek asked. Casey turned to him, and if looks could kill, Derek would have been dead and buried.

"What's wrong? You have the nerve to ask me what's wrong!" she shouted.

Derek was a bit taken back from this. "Casey just get in the car and we can talk about it," he said.

"No Derek, I'm walking home. I will not get in a car with a lying backstabbing jerk," Casey replied. Derek was a bit confused. He understood the lying part, and the jerk part, but not the backstabbing part.

"What?" he asked.

Casey turned to him, she stopped moving and Derek stopped the car. "You told me that you didn't know who Dana Cane was and she told me that you two are going out after you did your double pirouette. Let me tell you something about Dana Cane, Derek," Casey started. Derek didn't want to interrupt and make her angrier.

"Dana Cane use to be my partner when we did dance competitions. For competitions, we would do a duet in ballet and then we would perform a jazz dance with a group. When I was fourteen, I started dating a boy named Tristan who is one year older than I am. I had known him practically since I started dancing. He was on the dance team with Dana and me.

"You probably don't remember but I put up a huge fight when my mom wanted to marry George and move to London. I didn't want to leave my friends on the dance team, especially Dana and Tristan. Dana and I were great partners for the duet. My mom said that I could finish all of my competitions before we moved.

"On the day of the last competition, my duet with Dana was before my jazz dance with the group. It was only a couple minutes before the duet and I couldn't find Dana. My friend, Heather was helping me look and we unfortunately found her. She and Tristan were making out in a corner.

"At first we didn't make a sound. Heather was too shocked to and I was hoping that they would break apart and tell each other that they cared about me too much to continue. I thought they loved me enough to not do this. Well eventually, Heather made a sound and they broke apart. Tristan's face was full of regret but that was because he was caught.

"Dana on the other hand, just smiled. She went up to me and padded my cheek, telling me that we had to get on stage. Dana did this because she wanted to get into a dance program and some scouts were here to pick the dancer they wanted. It was a rumour that they were going to offer it to either Dana or me, whoever performed the duet the best. Dana wanted to make sure I would not do my best and I didn't. I did alright, but not better than her. She wanted to be a great dancer, not stuck in a studio teaching. She considered dance teachers dancers who would never make it, but that's just because she hated teaching and she couldn't see why anyone would want to teach. She got into the program and I didn't. I came here and started over, away from Dana, and Tristan.

"Dana will just use you Derek, and once she is done with you, she will just toss you aside, she did that to Tristan. Remember that when you are on your _date_," Casey spat out before she started walking again.

Derek began to drive slowly again to stay with Casey's speed. "Casey, I…"

"Save it Derek. And have fun with the car, looks like I lost the bet," Casey said, not wanting to look at him.

"Casey, I didn't know-"

"Just leave me alone Derek," Casey interrupted.

"Fine!" Derek said driving away, angry that she wouldn't let him explain.

Casey knew that he was angry and that he would go to his room and turn on his music, blasting the upper level of the house. She began to walk home though because she just wanted to go to her room and cry. As she was turning into her front yard, she felt her cell phone vibrate. She looked into her bag and grabbed it. She flipped it open and realized that it was a text message from Heather. It said "Casey! I just heard from Becca, who heard from Ashley, who heard from Sarah, who heard from her mom who heard from Tristan's mom that-"

"Casey," she heard a familiar voice say. Casey stopped reading the message and looked up, seeing Tristan standing up from his spot on her porch steps. Casey looked down at her cell phone reading the last few words, "Tristan went to London to see you!" Casey very calmly closed the cell phone and put it in her bag while trying to calculate how fast she can get into her house if she kicked Tristan in the balls.

"What do you want Tristan?" Casey questioned, not really caring, hoping that while he was answering, she could get past him. He caught her shoulders though, stopping her from passing.

"You've been crying," Tristan stated. Casey looked at him, feeling the tears fill her eyes again. Tristan always made her feel safe when he touched her.

"Ya, well, I've been talking to Dana," Casey said smiling.

"Oh, I understand, her ugly face brings tears to my eyes too," Tristan said which caused her to laugh a bit.

"Tristan, what are you doing here," she asked again.

Tristan released her shoulders and sat on the steps. He patted the spot next to him and Casey sighed, sitting down. "I came to see you. You have no idea how much I've missed you since the day you broke up with me."

"You mean the day that you were sucking the face off Dana," Casey clarified.

Tristan winced. "Ya, that day. Listen Casey, I don't want to get back together, I know I blew any chance of us being together when I kissed Dana back. I'm so sorry and I was hoping that maybe we could be friends. I really want to be friends with you. I not only lost the girl that I loved when you broke up with me, I lost my best friend too," Tristan said, grabbing her hand.

Casey turned and looked at him, remembering all the secrets she told him, the laughs, and the tears they had together. She lost her best friend too when Tristan kissed Dana. She found that she also wanted her best friend back.

"How long are you in town for?" Casey asked him.

"I took today off work and I don't work on weekends. I have to leave on Sunday though," Tristan said.

"How about we spend the day tomorrow to catch up. Pick me up at eleven and we can take an early lunch somewhere," Casey said, standing up. Tristan stood up too.

"Thanks for giving me a second chance," he replied. "I promise not to screw it up."

"I know you won't," Casey said before opening her door and going into her house. She closed the door slowly behind her as she heard loud music coming from Derek's room.

She closed her eyes, she had forgotten about Derek but she was forced to remember her feelings. She really liked Derek, she wanted to maybe, be his girlfriend but he would rather have Dana. Every boy that she likes will always pick Dana over her.

She walked up the stairs, feeling tears roll down her cheeks as she went to her room and shut the door. She grabbed her journal and ripped out a page. 'Dear D,' she began to write but felt a tear roll down her cheek before she could finish writing the rest of the name. She took a deep breath and wiped the tears off her face. She ordered herself to calm down and write the letter. She felt that if she got all her emotions out on the page then she could get past it, put it behind her, and start living her life. She had to get past it. She was going to take charge for her life and not wait for something that would never happen. _Once she finished writing the letter, she ripped the top and the bottom of the letter in case someone found it. She then grabbed a shoebox, put the letter and the necklace Derek gave her in it and shoved it to the back of the closet, not wanting to have a reminder of her feelings…_

"And that was it," Casey finished, for Jess and Lacy, holding the necklace in her hands.

Reviews are always welcome


	8. Back in the Present

disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 8: Back in the Present

Casey finished her drink and placed it on the tray as Jess and Lacy both stared at her. They were so engrossed with the story that they didn't know that it ended.

"What do you mean that was it? What happened with you and Derek? What about Tristan, and Dana?" Jess questioned, feeling a wave of panic hit her. She had no idea how much this story would effect her.

"There isn't really much more to tell. I don't know what happened to Dana. I never saw her again and I never asked anyone about her. Derek and I were never alone together again. I walked to and from school from then on and we avoided each other like the plaque. Once school ended, we worked summer jobs and then left home, going our separate ways. Then my mom and stepdad sold the house to you guys once Lizzie and Edwin moved out, wanting to live in a smaller house."

"What about holidays, didn't you see each other then?" Jess asked.

"No. I come home for Christmas a day after he leaves. I don't want to see him."

"What about Tristan?" Lacy questioned.

"The next day, Tristan picked me up and our friendship started where it left off. A few months later, I started dating him and we're now engaged. We're getting married next Saturday," Casey told them as if this wasn't her life she was talking about but someone else disconnected from her.

"But you can't marry Tristan!" Jess said, having hysteria creep into her voice.

"Jess, calm down," Lacy said calmly.

"No, I won't calm down! You still love Derek! How can you marry another man when you are in love with someone else?" Jess demanded.

"Sometimes you can love two people at the same time. My love for Derek isn't real. Tristan loves me. Derek has probably forgotten all about me," Casey said.

"But you don't know for sure," Jess pressed.

"I'm sorry, I should be going. If you want to come to the wedding, you two can. It's at 1 o'clock at St. Pat's," Casey said getting up and grabbing the box, containing the necklace and the letter.

"Wait!" Jess shouted making both Casey and Lacy turn to her. "You uh, haven't had a tour of the house, Lacy loves doing it and I'm sure you might want to see it one last time," Jess said. Lacy did like giving tours but that wasn't Jess' reason to stop them. She wanted Casey to put down the box for a couple minutes.

"Ya, sure, I would love to see the house one more time," Casey said politely, putting the box on Jess's desk chair as Lacy ushered her to the other rooms.

Jess stayed behind and once she was sure that Lacy and Casey were downstairs, she ran to one of her boxes. The box contained all of Jess' electronics. Her computer, phone, printer that was also a photocopier were packed in that box. Jess grabbed her photocopier and plugged it in. She took the note that Casey wrote out of the box and photocopied it. She then put it back into Casey's box and hid the copied one in her pocket.

Casey left soon after, taking the box and its contents with her. Lacy shut the door after her and waited until Casey drove away before she looked at her sister. Jess knew Lacy was suspicious and tried to head upstairs before Lacy would stop her.

"What do you have planned?" Lacy asked as Jess reached the top of the stairs.

Jess stopped moving and turned around. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, playing dumb.

"Oh don't give me that, you are a hopeless romantic. Now listen to me. Do not put your nose where it doesn't belong, do you hear me?" Lacy demanded.

"Ya, ya," Jess said, continuing to travel up the stairs.

"Do you promise?" Lacy asked.

"Sure," Jess replied, not turning around.

She walked into her room and took out the photocopied note. She did not intend to keep her promise, and she figured that Lacy knew that deep down, she just decided not to see it. She had to help Casey. She didn't belong with Tristan and she planned to stop that wedding but knew she needed help. Who better to help her than Casey's and Derek's family member. So she put the letter in her school bag and planned to find one of Casey's family members tomorrow. One that would be easy to find, Marti Venturi.

--

Jess had a plan, but she didn't know how well it would work. The next day, she went to school, the same as always but today she was doing something she never did before. When her parents died, the school assigned her a counsellor to talk about her feelings. She had to go to his office once a week, in which she did, but spent it in silence. She didn't want to talk about her parents' death. She never went voluntarily to the counsellor's office but today she did. She knew she didn't have many things in common with Casey but she had at least one. The counsellor that she stared in silence once a week was the same one that Casey complained to. Paul was unfortunate enough to get a complainer and a silent dweller during the course of his career. Although today was different. Instead of visiting him at lunch like she was forced to every Thursday, Jess visited him in the morning.

Jess walked into Paul's office, seeing him drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. Paul looked up when he heard his door open, seeing Jess, he spat out his coffee that he had. Jess always did whatever was possible to miss their meetings, he never thought he would see the day that she would come voluntarily to his office.

"Paul, I need help," Jess said, sitting down in the chair in front of his desk, the same chair Casey had sat in many times before.

"That's why I'm here," Paul said, coughing a bit because some of the coffee went down his windpipe.

"I need to know where I can find Marti Venturi," she said.

Paul looked at her funny. He had no idea why she would need to find Marti. Marti was a year older than she was and they probably socialized in completely different circles. "Why?" he asked her.

"It's about Casey, she's going to marry the wrong guy this Saturday. She's meant to be with Derek, not Tristan," Jess declared.

Poor Paul, he took another sip of his coffee while Jess was speaking and spat it back out when Jess said that Casey and Derek are meant to be together. He didn't even know that Jess knew Casey.

"Jess, in all the years that Casey came to my office, she did nothing but complain about Derek. They both had completely different personalities and they did nothing but argue-"

"But they had feelings for each other. Dana and Tristan just messed it up," Jess interrupted.

"Dana and Tristan? I don't know who these two people are," Paul said.

"It doesn't matter. Are you going to tell me where I can find Marti Venturi or not?" Jess asked.

"Just give me a second," Paul replied, getting out of his chair. He left the room and a few seconds later, he came back. He did this willing, hoping that he would gain Jess' trust and then she would talk to him about her parents. "Marti has first period spare today, she usually spends her spares in the cafeteria, you can probably find her there," Paul said. Jess jumped up, thanked Paul and ran out of the room.

"You're welcome," Paul said a second too late. He shook his head, remembering what Jess had said about Casey and Derek. He remembered Casey clearly and wondered why Jess would think that Casey and Derek could stand each other long enough to be a couple.

Jess quickly went to the cafeteria. The bell rang a couple minutes ago so she hoped that Marti would already be there. When Jess entered the cafeteria, she looked around for Marti. She saw a group of people talking, all surrounding one person. She took a guess that this was the group Marti was in. There were only two other groups of students in the cafeteria and she recognized those students as her classmates.

She slowly walked up to the group. She hated talking to strangers, especially when she had to talk to one about something so important and personal. She wished that Marti was alone instead of with a group. Nothing was scarier to her than talking to a group of strangers.

She took a deep breath though when she reached the table and she forced herself to speak. "Marti Venturi?" Jess asked the group.

"Ya?" The girl in the middle of the group said. It didn't surprise Jess that much that Marti was popular. Hearing how Derek was so popular, it made sense.

"Um, my name is Jess, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute," Jess said.

"What about?" a boy asked, protectively wrapping his arm around Marti's shoulders. Jess assumed that this was her boyfriend.

"Uh, it's kind of private, I'm a friend of Casey's," Jess replied, hoping that this would get Marti to talk to her privately. It seemed to work because Marti got up from her seat.

"I'll be back in a minute," she told the group. "I'll be alright Dimi," she then said to her boyfriend, quickly kissing him before following Jess through the cafeteria doors.

"So how do you know Casey?" Marti asked. She was afraid that this Jess just wanted to know about the 'story' of the rumours that Derek and Casey liked each other. They were stupid made up rumours that some idiots invented because they were bored. She hated talking about it. The rumours weren't true and if she had to say it one more time, she might punch someone, which was why Dimi was so protective when strangers approached them. He hated seeing her upset and he usually yelled at the stranger. So for Jess' sake, she hoped she wasn't going to mention the rumours.

"It's kind of a long story, but I know she's marrying Tristan on Saturday," Jess started.

"Ya, so?" Marti asked. She was really happy for Casey. She liked Tristan and she was looking forward to this wedding, mostly because of the free bar.

"She can't marry him, she's in love with Derek," Jess said.

Marti didn't miss a beat. "How dare you! Those rumours aren't true, some idiots made it up! Casey is in love with Tristan! Can't you people just leave me alone!" Marti shouted. Luckily, they were the only two people in the hallway at the time or else Marti would have been shushed at by a teacher. Marti didn't wait for Jess to reply, she just turned around to go back to her friends.

"I have proof," Jess called. Marti turned around. She was curious at what kind of proof this girl had. There was no proof because nothing ever happened. "She wrote a note to him, she was just too afraid to give it to him. I know she loves him and if she can still love him after all these years, Derek must too. Casey belongs with Derek, not with the cheating fiancé," Jess said, handing Marti the letter.

Marti slowly read the letter. She couldn't believe that all these rumours were true. Yes she knew something must have happened between Derek and Casey, as they make sure that they never see each other on holidays. She just thought though that they were just too different to like each other. Now she had proof that they did like each other, even love each other. After spending almost four years trying to convince everyone she knew that Derek and Casey didn't love each other, she should have been convincing Derek and Casey to own up to their feelings. She felt like kicking herself for not noticing that Derek and Casey should be together. Yes, she liked Tristan but she wanted her brother and stepsister to be happy. This letter proved to her that they would be happy together.

"How did you get this?" Marti asked, so quietly that if the hallway wasn't deserted, Jess wouldn't have heard her.

"I moved into your old house. My room is Casey's old room. I found it in a box and my sister, Lacy knew how to get in touch with Casey and she explained the whole story," Jess replied quickly, hoping to keep Marti's attention.

Marti nodded. She thought it was ironic that a girl from her school now lives in that house. She remembered when Nora and her dad broke the news to her that they wanted to move into a smaller house. Marti resisted at first, wanting to keep the house that she and her siblings grew up in. Her father explained her that they wanted to move because they didn't want to live in a big empty house with just the two of them. Marti was planning to go to school in Toronto and live with her friend so she knew that Nora and her father would be all alone in the house. So she agreed and they sold the house to a young girl. She was a bit surprised. She always pictured the next owners to have a family but instead it was two sisters buying it as Nora told her. She missed that house a great deal but she was never one to dwell on change.

"Why are you showing this to me?" Marti asked. She was grateful that Jess showed it to her but she wanted to know why she came up to a complete stranger to show her a letter her stepsister wrote years ago.

"I want to show this to Derek, he needs to see it," Jess said.

"Why are you so determined to get two people together that you barely know?" Marti questioned.

"Once you hear the story, you will want them together too," Jess explained. She hoped that Marti would take her to Derek, to convince him to stop Casey's and Tristan's wedding.

Marti looked at her strangely, trying to decide if this girl was the real deal. "Okay," Marti said slowly. "Meet me in the parking lot after school, I'll take you to him, but on the way, you have to tell me the story."

Jess nodded. She couldn't hold back her excitement and jumped on Marti, giving her a hug. Marti hugged her back awkwardly but neither of them said another word. Marti went back into the cafeteria to talk to her friends and Jess ran to her first period class since she was already extremely late. She took a deep breath before she entered her classroom though, wanting to control her excitement. She had a hard time though because she wanted to meet Derek, knowing that finally she would soon be able to place a face to the name.

Reviews are always welcome!


	9. We Can Never Be

disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 9: We Can Never Be 

Marti quickly went to her locker after school. She said goodbye to her friends and her boyfriend, telling them that she would see them tomorrow. She then walked outside and looked around the parking lot for Jess. Jess was already waiting outside, afraid that she would miss Marti. They both walked to Marti's car in silence. Jess only began telling the story when Marti started the car and drove out of the parking lot. She shortened the story a bit, not having as much time as Casey had when she told the story. Jess had just finished it when Marti pulled up to Derek's apartment building.

"So neither Derek nor Casey knew about each other's feelings?" Marti asked.

"Yup, and I know that Casey still loves Derek, her body language told it all," Jess said.

Marti nodded. "Well here we are," she said, opening her door and getting out of the car. Jess followed her as they both walked up to the apartment door. Marti rang for Derek's apartment. She knew that he would be home because she called him during her lunch hour and told him that she was coming. He always left work early to get to his apartment before Marti did.

"Hey Smarti, come on up," he said as Jess heard the buzzing of the door unlocking. Marti grabbed the door and Jess followed her inside. They took the stairs since Derek's apartment was only on the second floor. Before Marti could knock, Derek opened the door and he looked a bit surprised because Marti was not alone.

"Oh, hello, I didn't know Marti was bringing company," Derek said letting them in.

"This is Jess," Marti introduced as the Derek and Jess shook hands.

"It's nice to meet you," Jess said and she meant it. She wanted to see what Derek looked like so badly. Although he was a couple years older than the time period of the story, Jess could understand why he was such a ladies killer. She could also understand how Casey fell in love with him, seeing his smile just made her melt.

"So what can I do for you girls?" Derek asked once they all sat down at his kitchen table. Marti and Jess both looked at each other, not knowing where to start. They didn't talk about this in the car.

"It's about Casey," Jess said quickly, knowing that there was no point in beating around the bush.

Derek looked at her like she was crazy. "What about her?" Derek snapped, turning his head to glare at Marti.

"I know about the story. About Dana and how you and Casey really liked each other, possibly loved each other," Jess continued.

Derek didn't even look at her. His eyes were still on Marti, as his face tuned into anger. "I told you that those were all rumours. I turned down Dana Cane because she embarrassed me and I wanted to embarrass her. My friends spread those rumours because Dana was so unbelievably hot that they couldn't understand why I didn't like her. Why did you bring over your friend and waste my time!" Derek demanded.

Jess began to talk again afraid that Derek would throw them out. She was kind of shocked that Derek began to shout at Marti but also excited. She wasn't sure if Derek still loved Casey but after this, she knew for sure he that loved her.

"I have proof," she said quickly, causing Derek to look at her. "She wrote a note for you, on the day you did your double pirouette, the day Casey told you about Dana," she finished. She handed him the note and waited, allowing him to read it.

Derek slowly grabbed the note and opened it. Noticing that it wasn't addressed to anyone and that there were tearstains all over the page.

'_I'm writing this to you because writing a letter helped me get over Tristan when he broke my heart and now I have to get over you.' _It began. '_In the beginning of this week I never thought I would end up being so hurt because of what you did. Your lying to get a girl was bad enough but actually involving me and my love for dance was just heartless. _

_I would think that you are heartless if it weren't for this week, teaching you how to do a double pirouette. You showed a side of you that I have never seen before and I really liked it. I found myself waking up and feeling like I couldn't wait to see you, to talk to you. I really enjoyed being around you and I feel like I actually fell in love with you. Ya, that's right, I fell in love with the one person I loved to hate._

_Well, look how that ended. You are going to go, date a backstabber and spend your life breaking girls' hearts because that's just who you are. I wish I saw that sooner because I could have protected my heart. Well, we shouldn't dwell on the past, you can't move on that way. _

_So, once I'm done writing this letter, I'm going to move on and forget that I loved you. This will be the only proof of my love for you, so goodbye. Have a wonderful, carefree, life.'_

Derek's face remained emotionless as he read the letter. He had no idea how Casey felt back then. Once he finished he put the letter down and looked at Jess. "Why are you showing me this," he questioned.

"Casey shouldn't be marrying Tristan, in fact, he shouldn't have had a second chance. Why didn't you stop Casey when you found out Tristan came to London?" Jess asked, knowing that he must have known.

"Ya, why?" Marti asked.

Derek looked from one teenage girl to the other. He realized that he had some explaining to do. "Well, I got mad at Casey for not listening to me, and I guess I was mad at myself also for treating Casey the way I did…"

_Derek stayed in his room the for the entire night, he didn't eat or do anything in his room. _All he did was stare up at his ceiling, throwing his ball in the air, thinking about the conversation he had earlier with Casey. Edwin disturbed him when it was time to eat but he said that he wasn't hungry. This frightened Edwin because Derek was always hungry, even when he was sick. Derek just told him to go away and to make sure no one came in. The last thing he needed was his father or Nora to come in to try to talk to him. He didn't want to talk to anyone but Casey. He wanted to do more than talk to Casey but he knew he screwed it up. So he stayed in his room, playing with his ball.

The next day was a bit different. He was bored staying in his room. So he changed out of his yesterday clothes that he slept in into clean clothes. He combed his hair and before he left his room, he made sure he looked like a guy that Casey would consider dating, after forgiving.

He then took a deep breath and opened his door, making his way to the washroom to brush his teeth, not wanting to have terrible breath when he encountered Casey. He went to the washroom and closed the door. After ten minutes of making sure he looked his best, he opened the door and to his surprise, Casey was on the other side, about to knock.

"Oh, hello," Casey said, bringing her hand down, since she no longer needed to knock.

"Hey," Derek said softly, losing all the confidence he had when he usually talked to a girl that he liked.

"Um, can I get in there," Casey asked.

"Sure," Derek said, stepping aside, allowing Casey to get through and shut the door behind her.

Once the door was closed, Derek smacked himself on the forehead. He wanted to talk to her about what happened yesterday but he didn't have enough courage to mention it. So Derek turned and walked down the stairs to go to the kitchen to have breakfast. He glanced at the clock, noticing that he was up early for Saturday. It was almost eleven and he was never up before twelve.

When Derek reached the bottom of the stairs, he heard the doorbell ring. Since he was the closest, he went to open the door. When he did, he saw Tristan, who was lean and tall and had plenty of muscles on him to look sexy but not like he did it on purpose. Of course, this intimidated Derek a bit and instantly became offensive.

"Hello," Tristan said, being in a very cheery mood because he was getting a second chance with Casey.

"Hello," Derek said slowly, wondering who this kid was. He didn't recognize him from school so he couldn't have came to see him.

"I'm here for Casey, is she ready?" he asked. Derek couldn't believe it. Casey planned a date while he was in such pain.

"And you are?" Derek asked, wanting to know everything about the man who was going to take Casey away from him.

"Oh, my name's Tristan. Casey and I use to dance together."

Before Derek knew what was happening he swung his arm back and punched Tristan in the nose. Tristan was so shocked that he staggered back a bit, holding his nose, trying to stop the bleeding. Before any boy could react to this incident, they both heard a loud screech, screaming Derek's name.

Derek knew who that was and cringed while turning around, seeing Casey rush down the stairs, pushing past him as she ran to Tristan. It pained him to watch her carry him into the house, towards the kitchen so that she could help him stop the bleeding. Derek followed behind them and watched the scene in front of him. Casey ran to get paper towels and ice for Tristan.

"I can't believe you did that," Casey said, knowing that Derek was watching her. "Are you alright?" she asked Tristan once the bleeding seemed to stop.

"So I take it you told your step-family about me," Tristan said matter of factly.

"No, just Derek," Casey said. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that he would do that," she continued, not looking at Tristan anymore but at Derek, sending daggers through her eyes.

"It's okay, I'm actually feeling better. Do you still want to go out to eat?" he asked her. Casey stopped looking at Derek and glanced at Tristan.

"Sure, if you're up to it. Bring the ice pack with you though," Casey said.

"Yes mother," Tristan replied, making Casey smile.

"Hey Case, can I talk to you for a second?" Derek asked, but not in a question tone.

"No," she said.

Derek sighed, walked over to her, picking her up over his shoulder. "Derek put me down!" Casey screamed, hitting his back.

"We'll just be one sec," Derek said to Tristan.

Before Tristan could react, Derek walked out of the kitchen and brought Casey to his bedroom. He kicked his door closed and dropped Casey on his bed so that she could land somewhere soft. She sat up quickly, glaring at him. She stood up and tried to walk out but Derek stopped her.

"You will have to go through me to get out," he said, leaning on the door.

"What, do you think I can't punch you like you punched Tristan? Remember you are not high up on my favourite person list," she replied.

"What are you doing going out with Tristan? Once a cheater, always a cheater," he said.

"Derek, may I need to remind you that you wanted to date my friend while you were dating Kendra."

"That was different. She was going to cheat on me and I didn't really like her that much, plus I didn't actually cheat."

"Because I stopped you!" she said harshly. She didn't want to scream because Tristan was still downstairs and she didn't want him to hear this conversation. "People can change Derek. Maybe not you, but some people can change and they deserve a second chance." She didn't realize that Derek thought she was going on a date with him instead of just two friends catching up. She didn't care about what he thought though. She pushed him aside and was about to open the door when he spoke.

"Casey please don't go. I want us to be together. I don't care about Dana, I was stupid and I know that now. Please don't leave, stay with me. Be, be my love," Derek said, finally telling her his feelings. If this was any other girl, he would fell cheesy using a love song's title to beg the girl to stay but this was Casey, so it was different.

Casey turned around to look at Derek's face. She didn't want to date Tristan, she didn't want to get hurt. She realized that she should start making sure her heart wouldn't get hurt because she couldn't take much more. _"Derek, we can never be," she said before she opened the door and walked out…_

"I sat on my bed and listened to the sound of Casey and Tristan leaving, and I knew what Casey said was true. We can never be," Derek finished for Marti and Jess.

They both looked at each other. Casey never mentioned this part of the story. She claimed that he never liked her, wanting to go out with Dana. She lied about the ending.

"But Derek, she loves you, she always has," Marti told him.

Derek shook his head. "Maybe she did have feelings for me at one point but she made her choice. She picked Tristan and they're getting married. If you girls came over here expecting that once you told me that Casey loved me that I would stop the wedding, well sorry to burst your bubble but I'm not doing it. I'm not going to that wedding and I will never see Casey again. Those were her wishes and I will follow them. Now can you two leave because I have work to do," he said, getting up and walking to his home office.

Marti and Jess both got up and walked to the door. They didn't speak to each other until they were back in Marti's car. "So what do we do now?" Marti asked. She knew that Derek and Casey belonged together.

"Well if we can't bring Derek to Casey, we'll just have to bring Casey to Derek," Jess said, already forming a plan in her mind.

Reviews are always welcome


	10. Is Everyone Happy?

disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 10: Is Everyone Happy?

Marti glanced at the clock nervously for about the thousandth time since she got at Casey's wedding rehearsal. Since she was a bridesmaid, she had to be there, to know when to walk down the aisle and where to stand. After spending an hour practicing since Casey wanted to make sure that it was perfect, they finally went to the wedding rehearsal dinner. It was in the same hall that they were going to be tomorrow for the wedding reception. Casey wanted to make sure her wedding party knew where everything was so that they could help the guests tomorrow.

Marti rolled her eyes when she heard this. Although Casey wanted everything to be perfect, she didn't turn into a bridezilla as many assumed that she would. Her kindness and thoughtfulness for everyone's feelings stayed with her throughout the planning of her wedding.

At the beginning, Marti was so happy that Casey and Tristan were getting married but when she heard the story, she understood why Lizzie and Nora didn't approve with Casey being with Tristan. They put on a kind face for Casey's sake, especially when Tristan proposed but when Tristan and Casey weren't there, Nora and Lizzie made it obvious that they disliked Tristan. Marti now disliked him too and was going to make sure Casey didn't make the biggest mistake of her life, which was to marry Tristan.

So this led up to why Marti was glancing at the clock so frequently. She had to wait until all the speeches were done before she got up. That was the plan she made with Jess. It gave Jess plenty of time to get here.

"… and that is why, I love you with all of my heart. In fact, I can't wait till the wedding tomorrow when I stand up in front of all our friends and family, and say 'I do' to being with you for the rest of my life," Tristan finished as everyone clapped, having the 'aw isn't that sweet' look on their faces.

Casey stood up, and kissed him, and everyone said 'aw.' Marti rolled her eyes, and glanced at her family. Edwin and George looked bored, both looking at their watches, counting down the minutes for when they could go home. Lizzie inconspicuously stuck her finger in her mouth, making a gagging noise, showing her mother. Nora nudged her and Lizzie stopped just before Casey looked over, seeing Nora's and Lizzie's faces plastered with a fake smile. Casey was so oblivious that she didn't notice the unrealistic look of their smiles.

Casey then looked at everyone as Tristan sat down, having her announce the end of the meal. "Well, that's it for the speeches. We look forward in seeing all of you tomorrow, have a good-"

"Wait!" Marti cried, standing up. Casey and everyone looked at her, shocked that she interrupted Casey. "Before everyone leaves, I planned something special for my stepsister," Marti explained. Everyone smiled, thinking how sweet it was that the youngest in the family wanted to say something. Casey sat down, nodding for her to continue. "Well, with the help of my friends from school…" Marti started, which was Jess' cue and she didn't let Marti down.

All at once, Jess came out, followed by others, all carrying instruments. Jess was in the band at school, and being friends with practically everyone in band, they were all too eager to help. They climbed on stage, knowing where to stand and plug everything in since one of Jess' friends had a brother who worked here and allowed them to come the day before to know what to do. Everyone was staring at the teenagers who basically had set up in thirty seconds then turned back to Marti.

"We have prepared a song, for which I'm going to sing. It was Casey's favourite love song as a teenager," Marti finished, silently thanking her mother for forcing her to go to singing lessons, thinking that she had a true talent. Marti nodded her head, and the drummer started the song as Marti quickly walked up to the mike and arrived on the stage just before she had to start singing.

"If I could take you away, Pretend I was queen, What would you say, Would you think I'm unreal, 'Cause everybody's got their way I should feel," Marti began to sing, staring at Casey's face, knowing that Casey recognized the song and what it meant.

People started to get up and dance to the song. It took Tristan's constant nudging to get Casey to come dance with him. They made it on the dance floor when Marti was singing the chorus the second time.

"Everybody's talking how I can't, can't be your love, But I want, want, want to be your love, Want to be your love for real. Everybody's talking how I can't, can't be your love, But I want, want, want to be your love, Want to be your love for real. Want to be everything, Everything." Marti continued to sing, never taking her eyes off Casey. The wave of guilt that was shown on Casey's face was unmistakable as she danced with Tristan. It was almost like she felt that she was cheating on Tristan because she was dancing to this song.

As the song was ending, Casey gently pushed Tristan away and ran out of the room. Marti quickly jumped off the stage and ran after her. She heard Nora saying that everything was just fine and heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw Lizzie following her. She wasn't sure if she would be able to confront Casey if Lizzie was there but she figured that Lizzie didn't like Tristan that much either anyways.

"Casey," Marti called as she walked into the washroom.

"Go away." Marti heard a muffled voice say between the sobs from behind one of the stalls.

"Casey what's wrong?" Lizzie asked. Marti looked at Lizzie, seeing in her eyes concern for her sister but also hopefulness that the wedding was called off.

"Nothing, I'm fine," Casey said.

"Casey, you're not fine, tell me what's wrong," Lizzie demanded.

"We sang Derek's and her song, that's what's wrong," Marti said bluntly for both Lizzie and Casey to hear.

"Wait, if that was their song, that would make them, like, make them a couple," Lizzie said slowly.

Casey opened the door so quickly that it smacked the side of the stall but that didn't faze her. She walked out of the stall, and pointed at Lizzie, still holding a tissue in her hand.

"Derek and I were NEVER a couple," she said to Lizzie harshly.

"Ya, because you two were too immature to talk things out with each other," Marti said.

Casey looked at Marti, making a sound in her throat that was in between a sob and a hysterical cry. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it again, making the same sound, not knowing what to say.

"Casey, it's okay. You can still call off the wedding and be with Derek. You two belong together," Marti said.

"Ya, and we never liked Tristan," Lizzie added.

Casey continued to make the sound and Lizzie and Marti gave her a weird look. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She then pointed her finger at Marti before she spoke.

"Whoever your source is, they are extremely missed informed-"

"My source got it from you," Marti interrupted. Casey closed her eyes, regretting her decision to tell Jess and Lacy the true story.

"I don't know what you are talking about. I love Tristan and I don't want to hear anymore of this nonsense about Derek being my soul mate or whatever," Casey said just before Nora came into the washroom.

"What's going on, everyone is wondering what happened. Did you called off the wedding or something?" Nora asked. Marti closed her mouth, not sure how Nora would react to knowing that her daughter and stepson were in love with each other.

"No she didn't call off the wedding. Everything's fine, just got too hot in there for Casey," Lizzie said, covering for her sisters.

"Alright then, let's get back out there," Nora replied, leading the way out of the washroom.

Casey sighed and followed right behind her. When she left the washroom, she noticed that Tristan was standing next to the door. His face showed how worried he was which reminded Casey of why she loved him so much. "I'm fine," Casey said to him. He nodded, grabbing her hand and kissing it, trying to comfort her. His kindness made Casey realizes that she had no doubt in her mind that she chose the right guy. Tristan then pulled her towards the hall, preparing to make their last farewells before they left for the night.

Before Casey entered the hall, she looked behind her, seeing Marti, Lizzie, and Jess talking. Casey felt like she wanted to let go of Tristan's hand, run, and hide in the washroom again. She got the feeling that even though her mind was so sure that she was picking the right guy, many others didn't think so.

When she started dating Tristan, she had gotten into a huge fight with many people. Nora, Lizzie, and Heather didn't approve of them dating. Even though she wasn't living with Nora at the time, Nora still tried to ground her and forbid her from seeing Tristan. Lizzie and Heather second that decision. She was angry with her mother, sister, and friend that she didn't even talk to them for two weeks but she knew they were just trying to protect her. She brought Tristan home over the first holiday she could to show Nora and Lizzie how happy she was with him. Heather had already seen them, being Casey's roommate. She thought that she had convinced them that Tristan wasn't a terrible person but seeing Lizzie talking to Marti and Jess at that moment told her that Lizzie was nowhere close to welcoming Tristan into the family.

"So that went well," Jess said to Marti once Casey was out of earshot. While they were in the washroom, Jess' friends quickly packed up and left. Jess stayed behind because she and Marti were nowhere near giving up.

"Yup, she's slowly cracking. Now onto faze two," Marti said.

Lizzie looked from one girl to the other. "What?"

"It's time for bonding, wanna help?" Marti asked. Lizzie nodded, wanting to be on the inside of a plan, rather than the outside. It reminded her of the days that she and Edwin use to spy on their siblings.

--

Casey began digging into her purse for her keys as she walked to her apartment door. She could knock but she wasn't sure if Emily was home. Emily left when the speeches were done, going over to her boyfriend's house to help him pack. He was moving in with Emily since Casey was moving into Tristan's apartment. She finally found her keys and opened the door. She walked in, turning on the living room lights and screamed, seeing Marti sitting on the couch.

"My goodness Marti. You know how to really scare someone to death. How did you get in here?" she asked.

"You gave Nora a spare key," Marti said in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Okay. Do you usually sit in the dark by yourself?" Casey asked.

"I'm not alone," Marti said calmly.

"Hey Case," Lizzie said behind her.

Casey jumped and turned around. She had no idea that Lizzie was behind her and now that she looked closer, she noticed that Lizzie was blocking the only exit out of the apartment. "What's going on?" she asked her two sisters.

"Intervention," Marti said as if she was explaining everything. "Lizzie, Jess," Marti continued.

Casey saw Jess came out of the kitchen and went to the coffee table. It was only then that she noticed a laptop and projector on her coffee table as it turned on and faced her empty wall. This was where her t.v. use to be, but she noticed that it was pushed aside so that the projector could show up on a clean white wall. Jess nodded to Lizzie and Lizzie turned off the lights, which made Casey look up at the wall. 'Dasey' was all it said in fancy letters.

"Oh. My. God." Was all Casey could spit out, staring at the wall. Her name was morphed with Derek's as if she was a fictional character that people wanted to get together. "I think I need to sit," she said, dropping her purse and sitting beside Marti on the couch.

"So we have been called together because we all want the same thing," Marti started.

"To ruin my life," Casey muttered.

"No, to make sure that you're happy," Lizzie finished for Marti.

"I am-"

"Let us finish," Marti interrupted.

"We don't think that you're happy now," Jess said, pressing enter on the laptop. The next screen said 'Exhibit A,' and underneath, just one word, 'Tristan'.

"Tristan cheated on you," Lizzie said, "and you just forgave him because he said he was sorry."

"No, I forgave him because he meant it," Casey corrected.

"After a year. And did he call you up or anything? No, it was only when you called," Marti replied.

"Because I blocked his email and wouldn't talk to him on the phone."

"But what did he tell you?" Lizzie asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Did he tell you that he just kissed Dana that one time?" she clarified.

"I know he kissed Dana, I told Jess about that. He said that it was a mistake."

"Yes, but did you also know that he and Dana dated for five months after you left. That Dana broke up with him because she wanted to date someone older," Jess said.

Casey opened and closed her mouth. She didn't know that part. "How do you know that this is true?" she asked them.

"I told them." Heather said, coming out of the kitchen. "I never wanted to tell you because I wanted you to get over him as fast as you could. I thought this information would push you farther into your depression. Then when you started dating Tristan, I didn't want us to get into a bigger fight, since we already had one when you two started dating. So I kept my mouth shut," she explained.

"How many other people are in this apartment?" Casey demanded.

"Just us, I was making you tea," Heather said, handing Casey her favourite mug.

"Well, it doesn't matter. What's done is done. Tristan chose me in the end, and I forgave him years ago."

"Have you forgiven Dana?" Lizzie asked as Jess pressed enter on the keyboard and the next screen said 'Exhibit B, Dana'.

"Yes I have. It's not good to hold grudges, it makes you bitter," Casey said.

This was half true. She never thought much about Dana and even though she never was sorry for what she did, Casey forgave her. Casey didn't want to waste her time thinking about Dana.

Before anyone said another word, Jess pressed enter and another slide came on, saying 'Exhibit C, Derek'.

"Crap," Casey muttered under her breath.

"So if you don't hold grudges, then why-"

"With Derek it's different," Casey interrupted Marti, looking at the floor.

"Is it possible that it's different with him because you love him and it hurts too much to see him, or even think about him," Lizzie said softly.

Casey shook her head, not wanting to look at anyone, afraid that her face would say it all.

"Casey," Jess said slowly. "You lied to me and my sister. You said that you have no idea what Derek's feelings were for you but we talked to Derek. When Tristan came to get you the next day, Derek told you that he had feelings for you. He begged you to stay with him and you said no. We want to know why. What were you afraid of?"

"What _are_ you afraid of?" Lizzie asked. They all looked at Casey but she didn't move her head.

"She's afraid to get her heart broken. She's spent all these years protecting it, she wants to do what's safe, what has no risk," Heather said as if Casey wasn't there.

Casey snapped her head up and looked at all the women in her living room. "I may have loved Derek at one point, and maybe even now," she said when Jess tried to open her mouth. "But that doesn't mean that I don't love Tristan. Tristan makes me happy and I want to be with him. Please just let me make my own decisions," she pleaded.

No one said anything for a couple of heartbeats. Finally, Marti broke the silence. "Okay Casey, you win. You better get some sleep, you're going to have a big day tomorrow," she told her.

Casey stood up without another word and went to her room, closing the door loudly, hinting for them to leave. Jess turned off her electronics and packed them up.

"Wait, that's it. You guys are just going to give up?" Lizzie asked. Marti and Jess didn't say anything. They just walked out the door. Lizzie and Heather followed them, both completely confused.

"She's not meant to be with Tristan, I thought you guys believed that," Heather said, as they all got into the elevator.

"Of course we believe that," Marti said as the door closed. "We just had to make it seem like Casey won. Hopefully, it'll put the seed of doubt in her head," she finished.

"Oh. That makes sense I guess," Lizzie said. "So what's next?"

"Plan B," Jess said as they left the elevator.

--

Jess walked into her empty house not knowing if her sister would be home. Lacy bartended on weekends to get extra money. She was just about to go to bed when she heard Lacy open the front door softly, not sure if Jess would be asleep. This told Jess that Lacy had the early shift at the bar this weekend. This meant that she would be there all day tomorrow, which was perfect because Lacy wouldn't be around to try to stop Jess tomorrow.

"Hey," Jess said, coming down the stairs.

"Hey," Lacy replied, plopping down on the couch.

"How was work?" Jess asked, lifting up Lacy's feet so she could sit on the couch, letting Lacy put her legs on her lap.

"Oh, you know, same old, same old. I serve drinks mostly to drunks who try to hit on me and listen to people's depressing lives," she said, closing her eyes.

"Anyone interesting?" Jess asked. Lacy usually had a story to tell when she got home from the bar.

"Well, there was one," Lacy said sitting up, getting ready to tell her. Jess turned to her, waiting for her to continue. "This one guy came in and asked for the strongest drink we had. He looked like he was really hurting so I asked him what was wrong." Lacy paused for dramatic effect. "He said he was getting married tomorrow. I asked him why he wasn't excited. Well, he told me that he was only marrying her because he feels guilty. That he cheated on her once and that he felt like he needed to spend his whole life making up for it. Marrying her was just the next step to his life sentence. He said that he did love her, but didn't want to spend the rest of his life with her. He didn't want to break it off because he knows that she loves him and he doesn't want to hurt her. Poor girl. She's marrying someone that doesn't love her the way she wants him to," Lacy finished.

"So what happened to the guy?" Jess asked.

"His friend picked him up. He is going to have one hell of a hangover for his wedding," Lacy said. "Well, I'm going to bed. Hey, are you going to Casey's wedding tomorrow?" Lacy asked while getting up. Jess nodded. "Tell me how it goes," Lacy said, making her way up the stairs.

"I will," Jess called after her, glad that Lacy didn't ask her if she still planned to stop the wedding because she knew that she couldn't lie to her sister. Jess sighed and made her way up the stairs, wanting to get some sleep before the big day.

Reviews are always welcome


	11. Stay With Me

disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 11: Stay With Me

_If I could take you away  
Pretend I was queen  
_  
Jess woke up in a start, seconds before her alarm went off. Usually she was tired in the morning but not today. She had so many mixed emotions in her head. The most dominant emotion was fear. She was so afraid that she was going to screw this up. She wanted Derek and Casey together so badly. It made her wonder a bit why. She realized that the reason was that Casey and Derek reminded of her of her parents. They use to bicker at each other all the time, angry at first but ending as playful.

She had the house to herself since Lacy had left about ten minutes before. She set it up that way because she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this secret from her sister. As she was eating, her cell phone rang and she picked it up before the second ring.

"Hello," Jess said, already knowing who it was.

"Hey," Marti replied. "Everything ready?"

"I'm leaving in just a couple minutes. Don't worry; I'll make it to the apartment on time. How's the bride to be?"

"I have no idea, we haven't left it. Nora is freaking out," Marti said. Jess heard Marti sigh and she laughed. "Well I should go."

"Yeah, me too. I'll call with an update soon," Jess said just before she hung up.

_What would you say,  
Would you think I'm unreal  
'Cause everybody's got their way I should feel  
_  
Jess quickly finished eating and walked outside just as the taxi pulled up in front of her house. She ran out and gave the driver the address. As he drove she closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself for what she planned to do. Never had she ever been so courageous. Her father always said that she just didn't like to bother anyone, but the truth was that she was a coward. She felt like she was getting stronger everyday since she heard this story though.

"Miss? Miss." Jess heard, breaking her thoughts. She opened her eyes and looked at the driver. "We're here," he said. Jess saw his face relax and she assumed that the taxi driver thought she was sick.

"Oh, thanks," Jess said paying him before getting out. She walked slowly, towards the apartment building. She pressed the button and said "cable". The door buzzed with no questions asked. Jess quickly ran into the apartment building. She wasn't sure how long it would take for her to convince Derek to fight for Casey, or even if she could, but she had to try.

Jess climbed the stairs to the second floor and knocked on Derek's door. There was no response so Jess knocked again. Still nothing happened so Jess began to knock continuously until the door opened.

"What?" Derek slurred opening the door. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize that he was wasted. He had blood shot eyes too, so it looked like he was trying to drink his hangover away.

"Derek, what are you doing?" Jess asked him, walking into the apartment, closing the door behind her.

"I'm getting happy. What does it look like I'm doing?" he asked, losing his balance and falling to the floor. He laughed as he chugged the rest of the vodka that was in the bottle that he was holding. Finishing that bottle didn't even faze him. He quickly grabbed another one and began to drink it straight from the bottle.

"Derek, stop drinking," Jess instructed.

_Everybody's talking how I, can't, can't be your love  
But I want, want, want to be your love  
Want to be your love for real  
_  
"Why?" he said, looking at her like he had no idea why anyone would tell him to stop. "The woman that I love is getting married today. She's moving on with her life while I'm stuck here, living in the past," he said. Well, that's what Jess thought he said. She wasn't sure since he slurred every word and had to pause in between to burp.

Jess whipped out her cell phone and began dialling Marti's number.

"Marti, we have a problem," Jess said before Marti could say anything.

"What's wrong?" Marti asked.

"Derek's drunk. There is no way he can make it to the apartment to meet Casey before she leaves."

"What do you mean he's drunk? It's eleven in the morning."

"I know."

"Okay, get him sober and meet us at the church," Marti instructed.

"Okay, I'll try," Jess said as she hung up. She looked at Derek, still drinking away as he began to sing. Again, that's what she thought he was doing. Jess quickly grabbed the bottle and poured the rest of the alcohol down the sink. She then put the coffee on as Derek protested.

"No, Derek listen!" Jess said to him. "You are going to sober up, and then tell Casey how much you love her! Do you hear me! You two will be happy!" she shouted in his face.

Derek looked at her for a second and then burped in her face. "That's disgusting," she said before pulling him up. She pulled him to his washroom and threw him into the tub. Then turning on the cold water, trying to get him to sober up.

--

_Everybody's talking how I can't, can't, can't be your love  
But I want, want, want to be your love_

"What's wrong?" Lizzie asked Marti once she hung up.

"Derek's drunk," Marti whispered.

"Oh, for the love of why did he have to be stupid today?" Lizzie asked her.

"Who's stupid?" Nora asked as Casey glanced at them.

"Just Dimi," Marti said quickly, not wanting Casey to overhear.

_Want to be your love for real  
Want to be your everything  
_  
"Well, you will just have to train him," Casey said. "Now, can you help me with the veil, I can't get it on right, and the photographer is here."

Nora quickly jumped into action and Lizzie and Marti followed behind. Both were worried about Derek but they couldn't think of that right now. It was all up to Jess.

--

"How are you feeling?" Jess asked Derek as he was finishing the drink that she fixed for him.

"Better," he said, making a face as he drank it. "How do you know what cures hangovers?" he asked her.

Jess looked at her watch: it was almost one.

"My sister is a bartender. Do you feel like you're going to throw up?" she asked.

"No."

"Good, go get changed. I picked out your clothes, they're on your bed, and don't forget to brush your teeth," she instructed.

"I don't think we should bother Casey," Derek said quietly, looking at the floor. He was ashamed to even mention her name.

"Derek, you have one chance to tell Casey how you feel. Wouldn't you rather take it than always wonder what could have happened?" Jess asked.

_Everything…_

Derek sighed and nodded. "Well, when you put it that way," he said, getting up and making his way to his bedroom, falling down along the way, still not completely sober.

"Here," Jess said helping him up, no longer having much patience. She needed to get him to the church soon.

--

Marti looked at the clock, twisting her fingers again and again. She didn't want to have it come down to stalling but it seemed like she was going to have to soon if Derek didn't come. She glanced at Casey, and for the first time today, she saw Casey's face in pain.

Casey looked at herself in the mirror in her wedding dress. She remembered picking it out at the store. It was the first one she tried on. It was simple, not too flashy, which she liked. She always dreamed of this day, since she was a little girl but she never thought she would feel this way. She thought she was going to feel so happy and even giddy, but she couldn't help but notice the horrible feeling in her stomach. She blamed it on her reliving the past. If she just let the past be past then she would be fine; but she just had to go over to her old house and tell the story about her and Derek.

"Casey, are you alright?" Marti asked her.

"Yeah… fine, just nervous," Casey said.

_Everything's falling, and I am included in that  
Oh, how I try to be just okay_

"Well do you have everything, old, new, borrowed, and blue?" Emily asked, trying to distract Casey from her nerves.

"Well, I have the blue bracelet that Heather gave me. I borrowed earrings from Lizzie. My wedding dress is new… um," Casey said, looking down at herself. She couldn't find anything old.

"I don't have anything old," Casey said.

"How about this," Nora said, as everyone turned their heads to look at her. "I think Derek gave this to you years ago, and since he couldn't be here, I think this will make up for it," she said, showing Casey the 'Be, Be Your Love' necklace.

Casey mentally kicked herself for taking it out of the box yesterday night to look at it. If she left it in the box, her mother would have never noticed it. She already mentioned it once today, claiming that she had never seen it before. Casey told her that Derek gave it to her years ago, trying to brush it off. She wondered why her mother would bring it to the church but nodded her head, holding up her hair so that Nora could put it on. She felt like that if she said no, everyone would ask questions and she wasn't sure if Marti or Lizzie knew about the necklace's history. Once Nora put it on, Casey grabbed it, looking at it upside down, as she did when Derek first gave it to her. She once again, began to doubt herself.

--

"Which one's your car?" Jess asked, helping Derek walk.

"That one," he said pointing, with his keys in his hands. Jess grabbed his keys, and before he could object, he was in the passenger seat, Jess already turned on the engine, and they were speeding down to the church.

"So what are you going to say to Casey?" Jess asked him as she drove. She had been silent for a couple minutes but couldn't hold in her curiosity any longer.

"I don't know," Derek confessed.

_Yeah, but all I ever really wanted  
Was a little piece of you_

"Well figure it out soon because we're here and we don't have much time," Jess said, screeching the car to a halt.

Jess jumped out of the car and ran to the passenger side to help Derek but he was already out of the car and walking towards the church. He had sobered up a lot, but still had some alcohol in his system. Jess could tell this because he couldn't walk completely in a straight line. She ran up to him to help him but he pushed her away, wanting to this by himself. Jess gave him space, following behind him as they entered the church.

"Her dressing room is that way," Jess pointed as a man handed her a booklet. She looked down, seeing Casey's and Tristan's faces a picture that they must have recently taken. It was a 'thank you for attending' card; Casey was always one up the courtesy scale than normal people.

Derek walked to where Jess pointed and was about to knock on the door when Marti opened it excited to see him there.

"Finally," Marti said. She turned her head to shout to the bridesmaids. "We have to start lining up," she called in the room.

_And everybody's talking how I can't, can't be your love  
But I want, want, want to be your love_

Marti walked out first, pushing Derek to the side, allowing all the girls to leave the room. Casey walked out with Nora on her right side, wanting to hold her as much as she could before letting her go. Nora noticed Derek first because Casey was looking at her feet, hoping that she wouldn't trip down the aisle, pulling her father along.

"Derek, you came," Nora said, shocked to see him. He told her time and time again that he wouldn't be coming to Casey's wedding, no matter how much Nora begged him. She wanted him to be there to have the whole family in the pictures, but Derek wouldn't give her that option.

Hearing her mother address Derek, Casey looked up, her eyes widening. She hadn't seen Derek in years and couldn't help but look at him, at how handsome he looked: still very lean and tall. She began to panic: she was getting married and Derek was going to watch.

"Derek," Casey said, equally surprised as her mother. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

_Want to be your love, for real  
Everybody's talking how I can't, can't be your love_

"To wish you good luck of course. Why don't we give you two a minute," Marti said, grabbing Nora, and leading the other bridesmaids towards the back of the church.

Derek didn't speak until they were alone. He couldn't stop staring at Casey, at how beautiful she looked. He had always thought so, but the wedding dress that she was wearing showcased her body in all the right ways and it made him wish that he was in Tristan's shoes so badly. This made him realize that Jess and Marti were right, he needed to fight to be with Casey.

"You're wearing the necklace I gave you," Derek said. He mentally kicked himself for starting the first conversation he had in years with Casey with an observation.

"Um, I needed something old," she tried to explain, looking down, not wanting to make eye contact with Derek. "I can't talk long, I should be lining up," Casey said, trying to walk past him but Derek blocked her way.

"I can't let you this. We need to talk," he said.

_But I want, want, want to be your love  
Want to be your love for real  
_  
Casey looked at him as if he was crazy. "Why! Why can't you let me do this? We don't talk to each other for years, and now, seconds before I'm getting married you want to talk? I can't believe this!"

"As I recall, I tried to talk to you before but you left to go on a date with Tristan," Derek said, getting angry.

"You are not going to bring this up! You were the one who broke my heart first, by using me"

"But I didn't in the end! I didn't go out with Dana! I wasn't the one who dragged my heart in the dirt after I begged you to stay!" Derek interrupted Casey.

"You didn't mean it," Casey said, looking down.

"Is that what you think?" Derek asked, placing his finger under Casey's chin, forcing her to look up into his eyes. "That I didn't mean it? I truly, deeply meant every word that I said. So like years ago, I'm going to ask, no beg you again. Casey, don't go down that aisle. Stay with me, run away with me, be, be my love, because I love you," Derek pleaded, grabbing her hands.

Casey turned her head away, unable to look at him anymore, tears in her eyes. She was debating back and forth in her head so quickly, it was giving her a headache. Stay with Derek. Marry Tristan. Run away with Derek. Walk down the aisle to meet Tristan. Derek, Tristan, Derek, Tristan…

These were the thoughts that were going through her head when she heard the music. This music was her bridesmaids' cue to start walking down the aisle and Casey knew that she didn't have anymore time to debate. She had to make a decision.

_Everything will be alright  
If you just stay the night_

She looked at Derek, knowing that she owned him at least that. "I'm sorry Derek, I've made my decision, and I choose Tristan," Casey said, finishing the last part in a whisper. She broke her hands free from Derek's embrace and went to stand in line, grabbing her father's elbow.

Derek didn't pause to look at her. He just stalked away, heading to the exit of the church, knowing that he couldn't bear to watch Casey, the woman he loved to marry another man. Before he made it out, Jess grabbed his arm forcing him to stop for a second.

"Where are you going?" she demanded.

"To get drunk," he said, ripping his arm out of her grasped and stomped out of the church.

Jess turned to Marti, seeing how worried she looked. "Don't worry, I'll take him to the bar my sister works at, that way I'll be able to keep an eye on him," she said before running out of the church.

_Please sir don't you walk away,  
don't you walk away, don't you walk away_

Marti nodded and turned back, prepared to walk down the aisle. She was last in line before Casey. She caught a glimpse of Casey before she walked down. Casey turned to where Derek just left, having the look of complete regret in her face. Marti knew Casey though, and she knew that Casey would never back out now. She wanted to please everyone so much that she ended up hurting herself even more.

--

"Hey wait up," Jess called as Derek reached his car, kicking the tires, knowing that Jess still had his keys.

"Don't you dare try to stop me! She made her choice and now I've made a choice to go get drunk. First I have to go to a liquor store since you poured all of my alcohol down my sink," Derek said.

"I know, I won't bother you, but you're my ride. Besides, I know a good bar," Jess said, running to the driver's side. She wanted to help him. He had done the best he could but it was really all up to Casey in the end: in which she made the wrong choice.

Derek and Jess didn't say anything on the way there, or even when they arrived. When Jess stopped the car, Derek got out and stalked into the bar while Jess followed slowly behind him.

_Please sir, don't you walk away,  
don't you walk away, don't you walk away  
_  
Lacy looked up when she saw the door open. It was pretty empty at the bar because it was the middle of the day. No one was sitting at the counter and Lacy was just waiting for the dinner rush. She was surprised when she saw Jess walk in. Sure Jess was allowed in here, since it was a restaurant and bar but what surprised Lacy was that she was following a man much older than her younger sister was. Lacy felt her protective big sister role was stepping in. Before she could say anything though, Jess spoke.

"He needs the strongest thing you got, I'll pay," she said as Derek plopped down on a barstool.

"This is Derek, and well he just got his heart broken again because of me," Jess explained in a whisper. "I convinced him to see Casey minutes before she was getting married and well, she rejected him."

"Oh, Jess," Lacy said, shaking her head. She quickly grabbed the strongest thing she could think of and gave him a cup. Derek drank it down quickly, and tapped it on the counter, wanting more.

"Jess I told you to stay out of it," Lacy said, pouring Derek another drink.

"Yeah, I know. I should have listened," Jess said, sitting down next to Derek. She didn't realize that when she grabbed her purse to bring into the bar, she grabbed the booklet too, the one with Tristan's and Casey's picture.

_And everybody's talking how I can't, can't be your love _

_But I want, want, want to be your love  
_  
"What's this?" Lacy asked, picking up the booklet from where Jess had placed it on the counter.

Before Jess spoke, she looked at Derek but it didn't look like he was listening, he was just looking at his empty glass, until Lacy poured him some more alcohol. He would then guzzle it and wait until Lacy refilled. "Oh, it was just a booklet that they were handing out at Casey's wedding."

"And who's this?" Lacy asked, pointing to Tristan.

"That's Tristan," Jess said. She watched her sister's expression, confused when Lacy's eyes bulged out.

"Jess, this is the guy: the guy that I told you about yesterday. The one that wasn't happy to get married. Jess you were right to butt in," Lacy said.

Jess reached in her purse to grab her cell phone to call Marti but then put it down.

"What are you waiting for, this is the time to butt in," Lacy said.

_Want to be your love for real  
Everybody' talking how I can't, can't be your love_

"It doesn't matter. Casey chose Tristan time and time again. She won't change her mind," Jess replied. Lacy nodded, pouring Derek yet another drink.

--

Casey's breathing became quick and shallow as she listened to the priest. She couldn't stop thinking about Derek and how she might be making a huge mistake. She didn't dare look at her bridesmaids, knowing that Marti had gotten to them all. They all knew the story, and the look they were giving her told her that they all thought she was making a mistake. She didn't dare look at her mother, knowing that she didn't like Tristan that much and had a confused face when she couldn't find Derek. She didn't dare look at Tristan, afraid that if she did, he would see how much pain was in her face. Instead, she looked at the priest, while her thoughts drifted off to thinking about Derek.

"Casey? Casey, do you promise?" the priest asked her, causing Casey to stop thinking about Derek and focus on everything in front of her.

It was then that Casey realized that they were at the 'I do' part of the ceremony. She couldn't believe she was already at this part. Casey looked away from the priest, and glanced at her mother. Her mother didn't do anything: it looked like she was holding her breath. Casey then looked at her bridesmaids. Emily, Heather, Lizzie, and Marti all looked at her, each one of them wanted to scream no, but knew that it was Casey's choice. Casey then looked at Tristan, and for the first time, she didn't see the love that she always thought she saw, but the pain. It looked like Tristan was trying to tell her no too, but that was impossible since he already said 'I do'.

_But I want, want, want to be your love  
Want to be your love for real_

"Well Casey?" the priest asked again, getting worried at her hesitation.

Casey then did something totally out of character for her. For the first time in her life, she wasn't going along with something to make everyone happy. She was going to do what made her happy.

"No, I can't," Casey said shaking her head. She heard a huge gasp through the audience, all wondering why Casey was saying no.

"I'm sorry, but I-"

"I don't love you," Tristan finished for her. "At least, not in that way. I know Casey, we fell out of love a long time ago but were too afraid to admit it. We are too comfortable with each other and marriage was just the next step," he said to her. "It's okay," he continued.

It seemed like he was letting Casey off the hook, but really, he was letting himself off the hook. Casey nodded, pecking him on the cheek and handing him the engagement ring before she ran down the aisle. She knew what she had to do. She had to find Derek. She wasn't sure where, but she was going to find him.

_And everybody's talking how I can't, can't be your love  
But I want, want, want to be your love_

"Casey!" she heard people call behind her as she left the church. One voice made her stop though.

"Marti, where's Derek?" she asked her, seeing Marti texting someone.

"Get in the limo," Marti instructed, knowing that many people were going to want to follow Casey. She was right, not only did all the bridesmaids get into the limo with Casey, but Nora, George, Edwin, and Casey's father all got in. It was very crowded and if Edwin and Lizzie weren't sitting on the floor, they wouldn't have had enough room. Marti went to the front, telling the driver where to go.

Everyone was chatting around Casey but she wasn't really listening. Lizzie was explaining what was going on to Nora, George, her father, and Edwin but Casey blocked their voices out. She just stared out the window, playing with the necklace Derek gave her, hoping that she wasn't too late.

"Do you know what you're going to say?" Heather asked her as the limo stopped.

Casey shook her head. "All I know is that I don't want anyone interfering. If you're coming in, you have to be quiet, got that?"

All around her people nodded as the limo driver opened the door to help people out.

Jess was the first to notice Casey walk in. She tapped Lacy and pointed and Lacy's eyes grew wide. She couldn't hide the grin that formed on her lips as she watched everyone enter in quietly. None of them said a word and Lacy and Jess looked at Derek but he didn't seem to have heard them. Jess got up slowly, not wanting to disturb him and Lacy moved away from him, allowing Casey to confront him alone, well, as alone as they could get.

_Want to be your love for real  
Everybody's talking how I can't, can't be your love  
_  
Casey didn't go to where Derek was sitting though. Seeing him not notice her, but stare at the empty glass that he held in his hands, waiting for Lacy to refill the glass made Casey's heart ache. He tried so many times, did so much for her that Casey felt like she had to do something for him. It was then that she noticed that there was a stage with speakers that she would be able to connect her IPod to. She had brought it to the wedding, intending to give it to the DJ in case his selection of music was bad.

So she walked up to the stage, plugged in her IPod, and pressed play, listening to the music flow out. Before the singing started, she spoke through the mike. "This goes out to the one man that I rejected, but should have agreed when he told me to stay with him. So I ask him now to forgive me, love me as I love him, and stay with me. To be, be my love. If I could take you away," she started to sing.

Derek looked up, recognizing that voice. He first saw his family but his eyes didn't linger. Instead, they rested on Casey, still in her wedding dress, still wearing the necklace he gave to her, but lacking an engagement ring. This was when Derek clued in that she was there to beg him to be with her.

_But I want, want, want to be your love  
Want to be your love for real  
_  
Before Casey could finish the chorus, Derek walked to the stage (Jess thought it was a miracle that he could walk straight), jumped onto it, and grabbed Casey's waist, spinning her towards him. He began to kiss her intensely before she could even say anything but she didn't care. She wrapped her hands around his neck, trying to pull him closer. They finally broke apart, both having to get some air into their lungs, they didn't let go of each other, afraid that the other would run.

"So I take it you forgive me for being an idiot," Casey said between breaths.

"Wow," Derek said.

"What?" Casey asked, confused at what he said.

"You finally admit that you were wrong, someone should mark the day on the calendar," he teased.

"Derek!" she shrieked before Derek began to kiss her again. This time when they broke apart, they heard cheers from their family and friends but didn't turn to face them, wanting to kiss each other for as long as they could.

_I want to be your love, love, love_

Reviews are always welcome


	12. Epilogue

a/n: this is the last chapter of the story. I really enjoyed writing it and reading all of the reviews. I thank all of you for having the patience in waiting for the updates. Special thanks to fishyfin1 who edited the chapters. I hope you like the ending but there may be a possibility for a sequel. I'm not sure yet, but we'll see.

disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 12: Epilogue 

Casey stared at herself in the mirror, looking at her wedding dress. She was still in love with this dress because no matter how unbelievably complicated it was to get here this dress told her how simple it could have been, if she just stayed with the right guy. It didn't matter now though: she was marrying the right guy. She knew this was the right guy because she felt so giddy and couldn't stop smiling. She just couldn't wait to get married. She knew her father would have to restrain her from bolting down the aisle.

"Okay, so do you have something old, new, borrowed, and blue?" Emily asked her, since Casey hadn't said anything for a while. She was afraid Casey was focusing on her nerves.

Casey looked down at herself. "Well I have the blue bracelet Heather gave me, Lizzie's earrings, the necklace that Derek gave me, but oh no I don't have anything new," she told Emily.

"It's the wedding dress," Lizzie replied.

"No, this wedding dress is a year old, I bought it for when I was marrying Tristan, ageing took the new from the dress," she explained. Her bridesmaids and Nora looked at her, trying to understand what Casey was saying.

"We still have time," Jess said. Casey had asked her to be a bridesmaid for her wedding as it was because of Jess that she was getting married to Derek. "I'll run to the dollar store and get something new," Jess said.

"I can't wear something from the dollar store, Derek will think I'm tacky," she said, getting hysterical.

"I don't think he'll care," Marti said, trying to reassure her. "As long as you get down to the altar, he won't care how you look."

Casey began to speak but instead, let out a hysterical cry from her mouth, as there was a knock on the door. Heather, being closest to the door, opened it, seeing Edwin on the other side.

"No one panic," Edwin said stepping in. He walked to Casey and handed her a jewellery box. "Derek thought of everything," Edwin explained, leaving without another word. He was instructed to just get in and out by George because he knew it was likely Nora would fuss over him and then, Edwin would never leave.

Casey opened the box and a note fell out. She caught it before it reached the ground and read the three word sentence: 'For something new.' Casey looked at what the box contained, seeing a heart shaped bracelet with the words 'Be, Be Your Love.' She smiled as Emily grabbed the bracelet, putting it on Casey's wrist quickly because it was time to go.

"Alright, everyone ready?" Lizzie asked. Casey nodded and Marti opened the door.

"Casey's wedding, take two," Marti said, walking out of the dressing room.

Casey smiled, looking at herself in the mirror before she left. She wanted to make sure she looked her best for Derek.

"You look beautiful," Nora told her as they walked to the back of the church.

"Thanks mom," Casey said as Nora released her.

Casey grabbed her father's arm and watched her bridesmaids walk down the aisle. As the last bridesmaid walked down, she heard the song change to of course 'Be, Be Your Love' and she started walking down the aisle. As she walked, she looked at Derek, seeing him look as handsome as ever, staring back at her. Casey couldn't help but glance away embarrassed that he was gazing at her so intensely, but she found that she couldn't look away for too long.

They stared at each other through the entire ceremony. Casey wasn't paying attention being caught up with looking into Derek's eyes. Her thoughts were only broken when the priest called her name, worry creeping in his voice.

"Casey, do you promise to be, be his love," the priest asked again.

Casey and Derek had asked the priest to add this part to the end of the vows. He was fine with the request, but right now, he was worried that he would be in the same place as he was before, about a year ago, when Casey ran out of the church. He was one of the many people who stayed behind, confused as ever, not knowing what to do. He didn't want to experience that again and Casey assured him that he wouldn't have to. He wasn't so sure now.

"I do," Casey said, calming his nerves.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride," the priest said and Derek grabbed her quickly, having waited the entire ceremony to do just that.

Everyone clapped and Marti looked at Jess. They had become very close friends since they joined forces to get Casey and Derek together. Jess had tears in her eyes in which she was desperately trying to keep back.

"What's wrong?" Marti asked Jess.

"I just feel like it took forever to get them together," Jess said and Marti nodded, knowing how she felt.

"Yes, it's over. They will be, be each other's love forever," Marti said which made Jess lose it and she began to cry. Marti laughed while rolling her eyes, looking back at Casey and Derek, glad to know that they were finally happy.

Reviews are always welcome


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